Rise Of The Empire Part 1
by Eon
Summary: A direct sequal to SA2 (no Shadow though, sorry Shadow lovers). Involves a little bit of rommance between two fan characters, so beware of mush (especially in chapter 4). I hope to write parts 2 and 3 eventually.
1. Chapter 1 The Future Is Now

Disclaimer: I don't own Sonic The Hedgehog but the following characters I do own; Eon Squirrel and his family, Sora-Ya and any other echidnas (apart from Knuckles and Tikal), and Nigel Harrington. Silky Fox belongs to Electric Kitten and I only use her with EK's kind permission.  
  
Chapter 1 The Future is Now  
  
12:35 am, Tuesday 26th June 2501:  
  
Sonic stood alone watching the Earth. He remembered what Shadow had said during the battle with the Biolizard.  
  
"I am the ultimate life form," he said to himself.  
  
"What's the matter, Sonic?" asked Amy, coming to stand by him.  
  
"Oh, it's nothing," said Sonic with a smile. "Come on! Let's go home, to the planet as cool and blue as me! There's a whole world down there waiting for us!"  
  
Eggman and Rouge departed from the facility followed closely by Knuckles, Tails and Amy. Sonic was the last to leave. As he crossed the threshold to the corridor he turned.  
  
"Sayanora, Shadow the Hedgehog," he said quietly and so departed.  
  
They made their way slowly and sorrowfully through the many passages and corridors of the space colony ARK towards the Star Hangar. Doctor Eggman's space shuttle, which they had hijacked from his Hidden Base, still stood in the landing area; the black fuselage underneath scratched from its impact with the asteroid on the way to the ARK. Tails looked up.  
  
"Before re-entry those cargo doors will have to be sealed," he said pointing at the broken doors on top of the shuttle. "I'll get on it right now! Eggman, could you help?"  
  
There was no reply. The freedom fighters looked around and found no sign of Eggman anywhere in the Star Hangar.  
  
"Where's he gone?" said Sonic. "Eggman!"  
  
"He must have made a dash for it," said Rouge. "Oh well, I don't blame him. He'd only get arrested as soon as we land. It was my job to eventually capture him."  
  
"That's the whole point though!" Sonic growled. "We gotta find him!"  
  
"This colony's massive!" said Tails. "It's one hundred and fifty kilometres wide! So Eggman could be anywhere!"  
  
"True," said Sonic. "But he can't have gone far. I'm going to find him!"  
  
"We've got the Chaos Emeralds, Sonic," said Knuckles. "So he couldn't use the Eclipse Cannon even if he fixed it."  
  
"Knuckles is right," said Tails. "There's not much Eggman can do with this thing now."  
  
It took some heated argument to finally convince Sonic not to go after Eggman and instead he took to impatiently pacing about the landing bay while Tails carefully sealed the cargo doors shut using his Cyclone's laser on a heat setting. When the doors were finally sealed they climbed into the shuttle and took their seats on the flight deck. Like a plane on a runway, the shuttle rolled back on its landing gear and turned around, taxiing through the Star Hangar towards the exit. With a blast of rocket engines, the shuttle blasted out of the space colony and away back down towards Earth.  
  
Doctor Eggman stood in an abandoned research lab. He watched through the window as the shuttle sped away from the space colony. A wicked smile came to his face and his dark glasses glinted in the light. As the spacecraft passed beyond the range of his sight, he turned and strode towards the exit. As he departed he gave out a maniacal cackle of insane laughter.  
  
It was now August and the summer was as hot as ever in Mobotropolis. The capital city of Station Square was bustling with traffic but outside the space centre on the city's outskirts there was a massive crowd of spectators. The space shuttle runway was empty of any craft save one. It was huge. It resembled a space shuttle in the fact that it was mostly white but black underneath and it had large cargo bay doors on top. But this was much larger, the size of a large passenger airliner possibly. This was the new space shuttle, the first ever spacecraft (built for the purpose of good) to be designed to take off and land like a jet plane and to be completely self contained. It had two huge engines projecting from its rear and wide wings tip with the black of the underside along the edges. It immensely streamlined and where the wings joined the main body of the shuttle it was smooth with hardly a joint to be seen. Each section seemed to flow into the next, save at the rear, where the twin tail fins stuck up tall above the protruding engine vents.  
  
"Ladies and gentlemen!" said the shuttle designer, Charles Hedgehog, Sonic's uncle. "The future is now! I present to you the first completely self-contained space shuttle!  
  
"The design of the shuttle is based on its ability to take off from a runway and reach escape velocity when it reaches its optimal height above sea level. The shuttle is very heavy when fully loaded with fuel and cargo so it needs to have wings large enough to carry it. Once it reaches a height of forty kilometres, the jets will cut out and the booster engines will take over and break through the upper atmosphere and achieve a safe orbit above the Earth. Being completely self-contained, this new shuttle will work out more economical than its predecessor, as there will be no need to recover any discarded booster rockets and fuel tanks. It will also be capable of carrying larger loads into space.  
  
"With enough power, the shuttle will be able break orbit and it can carry enough fuel to travel as far as the Moon and perhaps beyond with advanced engines in the future. Being thus I venture to hope that this new spacecraft will prove to be the first concrete step into interstellar space exploration."  
  
Eon sat on the sofa watching all this on the news. The shuttle was due for its first full test this evening. Doctor Hedgehog himself would be commanding the mission to simply take off and orbit the Earth and then return. As the report on Doctor Hedgehog's shuttle finished there was a small closing bulletin.  
  
"In other news, Doctor Robotnik has not yet been found," said the reader. "His Hidden Base in the Sand Ocean has been decommissioned however no trace of the terrorist himself has been discovered. It is believed that he is still aboard the Space Colony ARK."  
  
Eon sighed. Tails was a good friend of his and he had told him all about what had happened on the space colony. He could remember vividly how Eggman had destroyed the Moon with the power of the Eclipse Cannon and even more could he remember the way Professor Gerald Robotnik had announced his horrific to destroy the world by crashing the ARK into Earth. He had been quite certain that all was over when he saw that but then Eon was never really happy or hopeful.  
  
It was the middle of the summer holiday and there was nothing to do. It was too hot to go for a walk and his friends were all doing something. Tails was far away in the Mystic Ruins, no doubt working on a new invention and Katherine Elm; his only other real friend was on holiday on the other side of the world.  
  
From outside the living room he heard a voice. It was his mother, Anna speaking on the telephone.  
  
"Okay," she said. "Right… Yes… All right… Bye! I love you too."  
  
She came into the living room and stood before her son.  
  
"That was your dad," she said.  
  
"I'd have never guessed," said Eon sarcastically.  
  
"He's going to be late home tonight," said Anna. "He's going to an extremely important meeting this evening and it's out of town so he'll be back after midnight. You'll be on your own most of the evening seeing as I'm going to an office dinner party."  
  
"Cool," said Eon. "I can be bored on my own then."  
  
"Why not invite Kathy over?" asked Anne.  
  
"Hello? On holiday!"  
  
"Oh yeah. Well not much I can do. I'm going now or I'll be late. Bye."  
  
She left the living room and Eon soon heard her going out through the front door. The teenage squirrel lay sprawled out on the sofa. He gazed at the ceiling in boredom. He was bored and depressed. The main source of his depression was his loneliness. He had few friends and he had never really enjoyed life since his first day in high school.  
  
As he gazed at the ceiling he yawned, shut his eyes and fell to sleep. His sleep was troubled by weird dreams. 


	2. Chapter 2 Living The Dream

Chapter 2 Living The Dream  
  
Doctor Charles Hedgehog sat in his seat upon the flight deck of his shuttle, which he had named "Pegasus One". It stood at the beginning end of the runway, ready to accelerate forward and take off. If his invention worked it would be his first ever flight into space. The crew was sat about the flight deck ready for the all clear.  
  
"You nervous?" asked the co-pilot who was a Human woman.  
  
"Nope," said Charles. "This shuttle will fly and it will make it to space. If Robotnik can build a ship that takes off like a plane and can get to space why can't I? Nope. This shuttle will fly."  
  
Charles had got the inspiration from a ship that Doctor Eggman had used to escape his Wing Fortress and make it from mid air to the massive dreadnought he had code-named "Death Egg", which was in planetary orbit. The idea of this new shuttle was to act like a jet plane until reached a suitable height. Then the rocket engines would take over and give it the necessary acceleration to reach space and orbit. It had taken a good eighteen months for the International Space Agency to accept his new plans and build a prototype and now was the moment he had been waiting for. He was sitting in his own vision and he was waiting now only for ground clearance and his dream would become reality.  
  
"I'm not nervous at all," he said, but even as he spoke he began to tremble. "Not at all," he reassured himself.  
  
Finally, when Charles was beginning to think it would never happen, he heard the voice from the control tower speaking.  
  
"Attention, Pegasus One," said the voice. "You have a clear sky! She's all yours. Good luck!"  
  
Pegasus One moved slowly forward on its wheels and with a sudden burst of jet energy, the shuttle raced forward and was soon in the air, rising higher and higher with every second. As it rose, the altitude meter flickered, the number going up at a massive rate. It began to slow as the shuttle reached a height, far higher than any jet could reach, at forty kilometres above sea level.  
  
"Escape velocity in ten seconds," said the co-pilot. "10… 9… 8… 7… 6… 5… 4… 3… 2… 1… Ignition!"  
  
Suddenly, the jets cut out and the engines for a fleeting second were silent, the shuttle was gliding on its wings alone. Then there was a sudden blast of fire from the thrusters as the rocket booster engines took over and the shuttle sped on and upwards at escape velocity. The blue boundaries of the sky grew dark and the tiny white points of stars flickered pale above. The blue failed and was replaced by a great blackness filled with billions of stars, some clusters thick as fog, shining clear and bright. The great arms of the Milky Way and other distant galaxies were visible to the naked eye. Charles gazed transfixed at the amazing sight that had only moments ago been a plain and empty blue sky.  
  
As the shuttle continued on its way towards orbital altitude it turned over and Charles saw a more wonderful sight. The Earth, over one hundred kilometres below the shuttle, shining brightly.  
  
"It's beautiful," he said to himself.  
  
"Welcome to space," said his co-pilot.  
  
The space shuttle orbited in the silence of space around the Earth until at last it passed nigh to the space colony ARK on its dead orbit path. Doctor Eggman watched from the abandoned colony. The shuttle was merely a distant speck but he knew what it was for he had seen the news report. His base on Earth destroyed; Doctor Eggman had been forced to adapt the ARK to become his new home. He had gone through the space colony in his Eggmobile, destroying every GUN robot he could find. There were many all throughout the ARK, all left to kill anyone foolish enough to trespass here. They were mainly robotic troops but there were also hundreds of armed surveillance units and Chaos Robots, which proved most tricky to beat. Once all were destroyed, Eggman had replaced them with his own badniks, chiefly his E-100 guards that had dwelt in his Hidden Base. To his fortune there were many refineries in the ARK capable of building his machines so replenishing the defences to his own ends was easy.  
  
As the space shuttle passed beyond his sight, Doctor Eggman left the research facility and headed for the central control room. As the Eclipse Cannon no longer functioned the power core here was unnecessary, so Eggman had redesigned the chamber into a command centre like the one in his Hidden Base. He had even repositioned the colony's space transporter to the chamber. He stood watching the holographic computer screens flickering in his face, showing images of the ARK's thousands of passages and chambers and many places on Earth where he had secret spy cameras. For a while he stood watching the screens before he grew weary.  
  
He was about to turn and head for his bedchamber when the proximity alert sounded. He turned and looked at the main screen. It showed an unidentified space shuttle heading towards the ARK. 


	3. Chapter 3 Gathering Of Dark

1 Chapter 3 The Gathering of Dark  
  
The shuttle blasted up into space and, as it reached its orbital altitude, the booster rockets and fuel tank disengaged and fell back towards the planet. High above was the space colony ARK, seemingly dead in the Earth's orbit, but the occupants of this shuttle knew otherwise. There were two pilots on the flight deck and two others outside the airlock to the cargo area. All four of them were echidnas. They wore flight suits branded with a device like a green emerald, very like the Master Emerald on Angel Island. All save one, a female who stood by the airlock.  
  
"We could really do with one of those new shuttles," said one of the pilots.  
  
"We'll get one or two soon," said the female. "Once we've secured a copy of its design schematics. Now I must go and carry out this mission, the time shall be upon us soon."  
  
She had deep violet eyes and red fur and spikes and she had three bangs of thick red hair crossing down over her forehead. She wore green and white shoes with a matching green top. At her side was a holster in which there was a single revolver.  
  
She stepped into the airlock and climbed through the access point into a small craft in the cargo area. It was a tiny pod capable of carrying only one passenger and seemed built for short-range space travel only. As she entered the craft and strapped herself in, her accomplice came to the access point.  
  
"Don't forget," he said, "humour the man as much as possible but be sure to stay on task. If things should go horribly wrong, don't hesitate to shoot him. But Robotnik is our best option. Good luck, cousin."  
  
"Thank you, Horatio," said the girl as the access point closed and the pod sealed.  
  
The shuttle's cargo doors opened and the pod disconnected from the clamps that held it down. It floated up out of the ship and with a small blast from the engines; it took off towards the ARK. As it came closer, the echidna could see the thousands of towers like a massive city gathered around the colossal central tower, the Eclipse Cannon. At last she could see her destination, one of the ARK's main docking ports, the Star Hangar. The pod floated in through the great open doors and with a blast from its landing thrusters it touched down in the landing area.  
  
Doctor Eggman marched into the Star Hanger in his Eggmobile. The smoke from the pod's landing cleared and Eggman saw that its occupant was disembarking. She was a red echidna, dressed in green, armed with a gun. She gazed at Eggman with her keen violet eyes. Eggman moved forward.  
  
"Who are you?" he demanded.  
  
"My name is Sora-Ya," she said with her hand on her gun. "So, you're Doctor Robotnik?"  
  
Eggman nodded. "What are you doing here, Sora-Ya?" he asked.  
  
"You want to rule the world right?" she asked.  
  
"Of course!" cried Eggman.  
  
"I can help you," said the girl with a smile.  
  
"How?" demanded Eggman. "If you're another government agent, I'll…"  
  
"I oppose this planet's government!" cried Sora-Ya. "And that means we have a mutual foe, doesn't it?"  
  
"What do you mean?"  
  
"You hate the UEG, don't you? They secretly executed your grandfather and told your family that he had died aboard this very space colony in an accident."  
  
"How do you know that?" Eggman's face was etched with surprise for what Sora-Ya had said was entirely true.  
  
"There are lots of things I know that would surprise you. For example, I know where you can find a new weapon to replace the Eclipse Cannon."  
  
"Oh really?"  
  
"Yes." Sora-Ya held up a ring of gold and handed it to Eggman. "Do you know what this is?"  
  
"A Power Ring," said Eggman in wonder. "I used one of these to power my base on South Island, the Scrap Brain Zone. Sonic stole it and used its power to make himself faster and so he defeated me."  
  
"These rings weren't created as power sources, Doctor. They were created as a means of travelling from one point on Earth to any other. They are pieces of an ancient and sophisticated technology whose like shall never be seen on Earth again, unless you take this planet and make it a better place using your talents."  
  
"This ring can open a gateway across space? To anywhere on Earth?"  
  
"Yes, if you can control it. Thousands of years ago only the Echidna Sorcerers were capable of using them but now I have a device, which can activate them by remote."  
  
"Very useful," said Eggman thoughtfully. "But what good is it to me?"  
  
"Allow me to explain," said Sora-Ya with a smile.  
  
Pegasus One descended out of orbit and flew towards the Earth's atmosphere. As it went down, the force field prevented the re-entry friction from even scorching the shuttle's hull.  
  
"Structural integrity is holding," said the co-pilot. "We are on an optimal trajectory for the runway. Thirty five kilometres and falling."  
  
The city of Station Square was now visible, a mass of many different colours standing upon the estuary of the great Emerald River, which glittered in the bright August sunlight. The shuttle passed over the river and down towards the runway. As it flew in low across the military compound the landing gear extended and Pegasus One touched down, returned successfully from its first ever mission into space.  
  
"Congratulations," said Charles. "Ladies and gentlemen, we've just made history."  
  
The crew disembarked from the shuttle to meet the flashing cameras of the media and the hundreds of microphones pointing in their direction. There was a mighty cheer and applause for the success of Pegasus One. 


	4. Chapter 4 Summer Of Love

1 Chapter 4 Summer of Love  
  
It was the following day and Eon rose early as he did during holidays, unlike on school days when he would have great difficulty waking up and getting ready. To this all he could say was: "Bloody typical." The night before his dad, George had got home very late and went pretty much straight to bed having had a very long and boring meeting. Shortly after Eon had finished his breakfast, George came into the kitchen and sat down in his chair at the table.  
  
"I'm having a day off today," he said. "I'll only be going out later to the airport and for a round of golf after I get back. I need you to do me a really big favour."  
  
Eon looked at his dad with narrowed eyes. "What's that?" he asked.  
  
"Well yesterday, Jack told me that he's arranged to look after a girl from Star Light City on South Island," said George. Jack was the President's first name, as he and George were very good friends they always called each other by their first names. "With all the work he's got he can't look after her so I offered to do it."  
  
"How old is she?" asked Eon.  
  
"Fourteen, and her name is Silky Fox. She'll be staying in the spare room so can you help your mum get it ready?"  
  
"What about Evelyn?" demanded Eon. Evelyn was Eon's elder sister.  
  
"She's going out with her friends again today, so I'll need you to look after Silky when she comes, okay?"  
  
"Fine," said Eon, knowing that his dad wouldn't take no for an answer.  
  
So that morning Eon helped his mum to prepare the room for the arrival of a complete stranger. The futon was converted into its bed form and covered with sheets and a duvet and new curtains were hung, as the old ones were looking "tired", as Anna put it. After much dusting and polishing the room was looking fit for a princess and Eon was released. He went downstairs and logged onto the Internet, his favourite hobby and only real social life. He went onto several message boards where he found people who like himself were bored and depressed. After a few hours of staring at a computer screen, he left and went for his lunch.  
  
As he finished eating his dad left the house and drove off to the airport. He was on his own now (again), as Anna had left to buy extra supplies for their guest. Eon had asked George how long this Silky was staying and his dad had said: "As long as it takes, son."  
  
This left Eon rather baffled. He was seriously not looking forward to this meeting. The last time they had looked after a complete stranger it had been a foreign exchange student and he had been very annoying. He constantly wanted to use the computer but didn't know how to use half of its programs so Eon had to help him (even though this student knew very little English). At least this girl would speak his own language.  
  
His dad returned at mid afternoon with a single passenger in his car and a large trunk as well as several bags. George disembarked and invited his passenger out of the car. Eon watched as she came into the house. Silky was a vixen with smooth red fur and long wavy hair and her ears were tipped with black. The fur at the tip of her tail, about her face and on her arms from the elbows down was white as snow and she wore a deep purple T-shirt. She had clear and deep blue eyes and glasses with gold coloured frames. Hanging before her chest was a glittering necklace of silver and diamond shaped like a star.  
  
Eon stood transfixed, amazed by the beauty of this girl. He felt so out of place believing himself to be hardly attractive to the opposite sex. No girl had ever had a crush on him though he had had one or two pathetic crushes. But that was a good thing, as most of the girls he knew weren't very nice anyway.  
  
"Eon," said the distant voice of his dad, "this is Silky Fox."  
  
"Hello," said Eon very simply.  
  
"Hello to you," said Silky. Her voice was very beautiful, the sweet voice of a well-spoken young lady.  
  
"Well, I've got to get off to golf now," said George, "so, Eon, can you help Silky take her stuff upstairs and show her around?"  
  
"Erm… sure," Eon stammered.  
  
He helped Silky carry her trunk and bags up the stairs into the guest room and they began to talk. As they talked, Eon found that Silky was very friendly and she shared many of the same interests as him. For one she loved the Internet and, like Eon, she had a huge appetite. They talked on and soon discovered that they both enjoyed thunderstorms, reading and writing and a good deal of other things. Eon's concerns that this guest was going to be another annoyance were soon forgotten and they went out for a walk along the wide firth of the Emerald River.  
  
And so for the next few weeks, Eon showed Silky around Station Square and took her to see all the sights. Silky was a lover of history and Station Square had at least three hundred years of it for her to indulge herself with. No matter where they went or what they wore though, Silky always seemed to carry her star necklace with her. She told Eon that it was given to her by her by her first guardian as a gift from her father. But she knew very little of her parents and her family in general. The five points of the star necklace were of sparkling diamond and the centre polished silver carven with an intricate and beautiful design. Set around a purple coloured diamond in the very centre of the star.  
  
They were good friends almost straight away and as the time wore slowly on through the summer she escalated herself to become Eon's best friend. Every day they spent together and they soon had seen the whole city and the areas around it such as the Mystic Ruins and the Sand Ocean. For once, Eon was happy and content with life.  
  
One day in late August, as the sun was setting, Eon and Silky were sat at the top of the riverbank watching the yachts sailing in the azure waters of the tidal Emerald River estuary. They said nothing but merely watched as the sun fell towards the horizon and the seagulls cried above them.  
  
As they watched, Eon raised his left arm from the grass where it lay and placed it around Silky's shoulders. The vixen leaned in towards him and Eon kissed her on the cheek.  
  
"I love you," he said quietly.  
  
"I love you too," Silky replied with a smile.  
  
They said no more but sat in each other's arms and kissed as the sunset and night fell upon Station Square. 


	5. Chapter 5 The Big Goodbye

Chapter 5 The Big Goodbye  
  
Floating in the sky, not far from the Mystic Ruins and the Sand Ocean was the vast form of Angel Island. It was dark and the island stood as a shadow almost black against the deep blue sky dotted with stars. The charred remnant of the Moon cast a pale light that glimmered upon the snows that clad the lofty peaks of the island's Ice Cap.  
  
Knuckles slept in his bed in a small cave at the foot of a mountain, not far from the shrine of the Master Emerald. For the past weeks his sleep had been troubled with dreams. This night his dreams were clearer than ever.  
  
He saw the shapes of huge armies marching over fields stricken with war. The soldiers were echidnas heavily armed with swords, spears and shields and many of them rode upon horses. They wore steel helmets that glittered in the light of the rising sun. His visions changed to reveal a vast walled city of immeasurably tall towers surrounding one giant fortress from the top of whose highest tower there shone a pale white light. Circling the tower in the sky were shapes like pterosaurs ridden by soldiers bearing great bows of yew. Behind them flew long crimson cloaks.  
  
Suddenly, with a flash like lightning the city was consumed in a great fire and the fortress crumbled to the ground. The statue of a tall and proud king of echidnas cracked and broke, tumbling forward with a great cloud of dust.  
  
Finally Knuckles saw something he could not recall seeing in this dream before, the shrine of the Master Emerald under the night sky. The pillars that had borne the Chaos Emeralds were broken upon the ground and entangled in weeds. Still the site was upon the ground and it seemed ancient still though clearly long after the visions that Tikal had shown to Knuckles of a time ten thousand years ago when Pochacamac had attacked this place. There came a brilliant flash from the Master Emerald atop the altar and a beam of green light shone up into the sky and with a great rumble a massive piece of the land broke away and lifted into the air. Great chunks of rock cracked and fell from this floating island as it rose high into the heavens.  
  
Knuckles suddenly started up. He was sitting bolt upright in his bed and sweating, breathing hard. He got out of bed and took a drink of water from the spring nearby. As he looked up, he saw a brilliant flash of green light that illuminated the whole island and then faded. As he stood wondering what it could be there came another flash just like the first. It was coming from the Master Emerald. Knuckles could sense that something was wrong.  
  
The echidna raced through the dense foliage of the Mushroom Hills until he was in sight of the great Emerald. To his amazement the Master Emerald was glowing just like it had done in his dream only minutes before and like in his dream, a single beam of green light shone constantly from the Emerald towards the sky.  
  
"What's happening?" Knuckles wondered.  
  
He ran towards the Master Emerald and stared at it. He could sense that vast amounts of Chaos energy were radiating from within but that wasn't right at all. Sometimes the Master Emerald would show images inside it of far off things but there was nothing to be seen within it save the dazzling source of this powerful light. Cautiously Knuckles reached out and put his hand upon the Emerald. It felt the same as ever to the touch but in physical contact Knuckles could sense that something was very wrong, but he didn't know what.  
  
"Sonic!" cried a voice followed by slamming fists upon the door to Sonic's bedroom. "Sonic! Wake up!"  
  
"What is it?" demanded Sonic throwing back the covers and rubbing his eyes.  
  
Tails came in. "Sonic," he cried. "There's a badnik attack away down town! We've gotta go deal with it!"  
  
"Ugh," Sonic groaned. "Eggman would decide to attack when I'm trying to sleep!"  
  
He jumped out of bed and put on his gloves and his Light Speed shoes. Tails led him out of the Emerald Coast Hotel and they sped across the bridge of Route 101 over the Emerald River's estuary towards the Western and central area of Station Square. They could hear the screams of people fleeing the city centre and the sound of sirens and some gunshots.  
  
As they came into the Capital Square, the very centre of the city where the huge United Earth Government Complex was located, Sonic and Tails saw a squadron of Doctor Eggman's E-100 robots blasting at a military blockage. A grey tank rolled in branded with the letter "G" for GUN followed by two military jeeps with commandos ready to defend the city from the badniks.  
  
Sonic ran straight in and shouted: "Leave it to me!" He didn't want GUN, who he hated with a passion for their falsely arresting him by idiotically mistaking him for Shadow, to get involved in his fight. Eggman was his enemy and so it would remain until one of them finally defeated the other.  
  
Seeing their master's enemies enter the scene, the E-100 robots turned their fire upon Sonic and Tails. The freedom fighters raced into attack, Sonic spinning into a ball of blue spikes in his spin-attack and Tails using his powerful tail-attack to destroy the badniks. There was a lot of them and more descended onto the scene with their jet boosters. They were armed with powerful laser blasters and they were also faster than before, but at length Sonic and Tails had beaten them and all that remained was their wreckage.  
  
"Well that wasn't too hard," said Tails.  
  
Even as the fox spoke they heard the sound of hover engines on some kind of craft. Looking round, Sonic and Tails saw a huge and streamlined hovercraft with a huge and powerful turbine mounted at the back. A dull yellow light gleamed from vents in the turbine's armour plating. On either side were laser cannons and behind the windshield in the open cockpit sat Doctor Eggman.  
  
"Good evening!" he laughed.  
  
The military troops warily brandished their weaponry, pointing towards the terrorist's armoured vehicle. Sonic and Tails stood still where they were with no fear of Eggman or his weapons.  
  
"What do you want?" demanded Sonic.  
  
"You know the answer," cried Eggman: "to rule the world of course! And therefore, obstacles like yourself must therefore be removed!"  
  
The hovercraft advanced and the laser cannons glowed. The yellow light from within the turbine was growing brighter. Sonic and Tails said nothing but made a dash towards Eggman and attacked. They soon discovered that his ship's armour was stronger than it looked.  
  
"If only I had the Cyclone!" said Tails as he dodged a blast from one of the laser cannons.  
  
"Bah!" Eggman laughed. "Your pathetic little toy would be no match against this machine!"  
  
The hovercraft was not only strong but very fast too and Eggman used it the charge at Sonic and Tails. Still it stood no chance of matching their speed and agility but its armour plating protected it from any of their attacks. Sonic suddenly remembered something.  
  
"Sonic Wind!" he cried. A tornado of blue energy surrounded Eggman's hovercraft. This attack Sonic had discovered he could use while he was racing Shadow to the Eclipse Cannon on the ARK. It had been very effective against Shadow but against Eggman's hovercraft it seemed completely useless.  
  
"All systems full power!" cried Eggman, and the dull yellow light from the turbine turned suddenly into a brilliant blaze.  
  
He pressed some buttons on his control console and there came a great murmur from the power generator of his machine. Sonic stood back, unsure of what to expect from this new machine of Eggman's. Suddenly, with a bolt of energy and a flash of yellow light, Sonic vanished. Tails looked around in panic but there was no sign of his friend.  
  
"What have you done, Eggman?" he cried.  
  
Eggman did not answer but laughed maniacally, a hideous laugh of his insane triumph. As Tails raced forward in another futile attack he disappeared from sight in a flash of yellow.  
  
High above, on top of the city library, a lone figure stood cloaked and hooded. The dark grey cloak billowed in the wind from Eggman's hovercraft as he took to the sky and blasted away into the night. Far away, on the horizon there was a great pillar of green light reaching high into the heavens.  
  
"It has begun," said the voice of the figure. 


	6. Chapter 6 Thief In The Night

1 Chapter 6 Thief in the Night  
  
All about Eon's house was darkness. Standing far from the lights of Station Square, at the end of a lane away from the streetlights of the road it would become pitch dark at night. In the darkness however, two eye-like points were gleaming; two red lights under the shadows of a tall fir-tree. Silently the eye-like lights moved forward towards the house. They were borne by a shadowy figure. The remaining half of the Moon cast a pale white gleam over the drive that glinted on the car's metallic paint. The shadow glinted as it moved silently towards the front porch. As it came near the house's automatic front light came on, casting a bright and broad beam of white light that overwhelmed the two pale red lights.  
  
Hovering under the porch was a machine that Eggman had built over two years ago, but this was far more advanced now. It was the Mecha Sonic, the most successful robotic replica of Sonic the Hedgehog and the only one capable of harnessing the power of the Master Emerald. Its blue armour glittered in the light as it moved its right arm forward as silent as a bat. It took hold of the door handle and suddenly blasted forward, tearing the door clean off its hinges. The alarm sounded but Mecha Sonic paid no heed. He saw a door open at the top of the stairs behind which there stood a terrified young vixen, his target.  
  
George burst out of his door upon the landing and drew a gun. He fired several shots down from the balcony that bounced straight off the robot's armour. Mecha Sonic turned with a menace from his red eyes. As he looked, his eyes turned white and he blasted a beam of energy towards the squirrel. Anthony dodged as the beam tore through the railing and stabbed a hole straight into the wall. Mecha Sonic continued up the stairs towards the guest room.  
  
Eon dashed out of his own room and struck the robot hard on the head with a baseball bat. The bat snapped in two and the robot froze. Slowly he turned his head round to face Eon. The young squirrel backed off as the robot advanced on him. Mecha Sonic swung his arm round smashing away the banister. He smashed his arm into the grandfather clock in a near shot at Eon's head.  
  
As Eon found himself with nowhere left to go, he put up his fists to attack the robot. Mecha Sonic was completely unaffected by his pitiful punches at the robot's head. The mechanical hedgehog grabbed Eon and threw him from the balcony into the entrance hall. He turned and a beam of red light issued from his eyes.  
  
"Scanning for DNA signature," he droned. As the beam fell upon the door into the guest room he advanced. "DNA signature found. Retrieving target."  
  
He smashed through the door and fired a beam of green light from his eyes at the cowering Silky in the corner of the room. She collapsed upon the floor and Mecha Sonic picked her up. With the young vixen over his shoulder, he departed from the house and flew into the air with a blast from twin jet boosters.  
  
Knuckles resurfaced on Angel Island. He had been into the island's control room in the Hidden Palace, deep below the shrine of the Master Emerald to see if he could find any answer to what was going on here. There had been none, only readings of what he already knew, the Master Emerald was giving off massive amounts of excess energy.  
  
"What's happening here?" he demanded, not expecting an answer.  
  
"The world is on the verge of a great change, Knuckles," said an answering voice. It was a beautiful voice that Knuckles recognised. He turned and saw a figure, cloaked and hooded in dark grey. Only her mouth and nose were visible. She cast back her hood, revealing that she was an echidna, a young orange echidna of some fourteen years with deep blue eyes. Upon her head was a circlet of gold with an intricate design. Beneath her cloak she wore a long dress of dark green that covered over her feet. It was Tikal, the echidna girl who had been sealed inside the Master Emerald with Chaos ten thousand years ago. She had been released along with Chaos when Eggman shattered the Emerald nearly a year ago and disappeared with the creature after he had been defeated by Super Sonic.  
  
"Tikal?" said Knuckles with amazement. "You're back! What do you mean change?"  
  
"One of the greatest changes the world will ever know," said Tikal. "But it all depends on one choice."  
  
"What do you mean?"  
  
"With every choice presented to anyone there are several ways in which time could be altered. The time-line is like a tree and the branch we follow depends on the choices we make. Ever and anon there comes a time when one person's decision will have the power to alter the course of history completely, and not always for the best. Such a time is coming now, Knuckles."  
  
Knuckles didn't quite know what Tikal was getting at but he knew one thing for sure: "Let me guess. The one with the all-powerful decision is me, right?"  
  
Tikal nodded.  
  
"So what will my choice be?" asked Knuckles.  
  
"I can't say."  
  
"Why not?"  
  
"Because I don't know. All I know is that the choice is coming and it will be yours to make. I know many things that were and many that are but I cannot be sure that any vision of the future is true unless it is clear. Even then it is only one path in all the millions of ways the cosmos might conform and it may never come to be. Yet this vision I am certain will only come about if you make a certain choice in the near future."  
  
"What did you see?"  
  
"Pure chaos and disorder. The world thrown into turmoil by a great weapon of destruction. And an army of thousands led by one, over running the world and destroying all who do not bow to their leader."  
  
"Who is that?"  
  
"You, Knuckles."  
  
Knuckles was flummoxed. "But… But… I would never want to rule the world!" he said with horror. "You must be wrong!"  
  
"Whether or not that is true remains to be seen," said Tikal. "The burden of choice I'm afraid is yours entirely."  
  
Knuckles was about to speak when Tikal turned into a ball of orange light and flew away into the night. This was one of her traits that she had gained after ten thousand years of imprisonment in the Master Emerald.  
  
The echidna stood alone, completely at a loss. He had no desire to rule the world or do any of the things he could with an army of thousands and the weapon that Tikal spoke of. All he had ever wanted was to live in peace on Angel Island but ever since Eggman had crashed his Death Egg into the island this desire had never become a reality again. The Master Emerald continued to send up its terrific blaze of green light into the night sky. 


	7. Chapter 7 The Lost Princess

1 Chapter 7 The Lost Princess  
  
Silky awoke to find herself lying upon a bed in a strange room. It was small with entirely grey metal walls save for one great window in the side. Through it she could see a truly incredible sight, the Earth glowing brightly in the sunlight several hundred kilometres below her. As she sat up she noticed that she was still in her lilac pyjamas, which she was wearing when she was captured. On her feet was a pair of purple slippers and around her neck as ever was her star necklace but it was hanging inside her shirt.  
  
"Am I on a space ship or a space station?" she wondered as she looked out of the window. And she kept wondering for some time.  
  
Outside she saw what looked like the towers of a city held upside down above the Earth, but they were all of metal like some great futuristic city in science fiction. She began to get frightened, as she didn't know where she was and how she could escape. She banged on the door and called out but no answer came. And for a while she sat on the bed with a bowed head waiting.  
  
It seemed like hours had passed before the door finally opened and someone came in. It was not however the someone she had expected, as it was an echidna. Silky had never met an echidna before but she knew a good deal about Knuckles, the guardian of Angel Island, but this echidna was a female.  
  
"I am Sora-Ya," she said. "You will come with me."  
  
Silky did not wish to argue with someone who had a gun at her side so she followed this Sora-Ya out of the cell.  
  
As they walked along a wide corridor Silky decided to ask where she was.  
  
"The Star Sector of the Space Colony ARK," answered Sora-Ya.  
  
"And where are you taking me?" Silky demanded.  
  
"Doctor Robotnik would like a word with you."  
  
"Robotnik!" Silky exclaimed. "So he is behind all this! I knew that was one of Eggman's robots that captured me…" She stopped for losing track of time.  
  
Sora-Ya seemed to acknowledge this. She said: "Yesterday, which makes today Thursday, doesn't it?"  
  
Silky was silent. What could Eggman possibly want with her? How did he even know who she was? Why would he even know anything about her?  
  
The young vixen was led aboard what looked like some kind of train that travelled through the ARK at great speeds, as the colony's extreme size would take days to traverse on foot. At length they came to a halt after a good ten minutes and Sora-Ya led Silky to a round chamber whose far walls and floor were great windows overlooking the Earth. As the vixen entered she saw Doctor Eggman standing with his back to them. He was looking out the window at Earth. The door slid shut behind them.  
  
"Soon," he said without turning, "that will all be mine. But first I need something that you have, your highness." He turned around to face Silky.  
  
"What?" she demanded. "What do you mean?"  
  
"Don't play that game!" said Eggman with a vicious glare. "You know perfectly well what I'm after, Princess Silky Gemini. I want the plans to the EMP Cannon!"  
  
"That's not what I meant!" said Silky. "What do you mean by Princess Silky Gemini? And I don't know what this EMP Cannon is."  
  
"Yes you do!" said Eggman. "And don't try and hold up this false identity with me! I know just who you are and you're a long way from your little safe haven in Station Square."  
  
"I seriously don't know what you're talking about," said a completely mystified Silky.  
  
"Sora-Ya," said Eggman, turning angrily towards the echidna. "Did you get this wrong?"  
  
"No," said Sora-Ya. "She is the only biological match to the DNA signature in the report."  
  
"Report?" cried Silky. She was beginning to panic now. "What in the world are talking about?"  
  
"My senses tell me that this is no act," said Sora-Ya.  
  
"No way! I can't believe this!" cried Eggman. "Of all the confounded nuisances! This is the worst!"  
  
"I wouldn't have said so," said the echidna calmly. "Why don't you go and get a drink, Doctor? Take five and cool down, okay? In the meantime the Princess and I and are going a to have a little chat."  
  
"Very well," said Eggman. He turned on his heel and left the room.  
  
Sora-Ya turned to her captive. "I'm psychic," she said. "I can't read minds but I know when someone is lying. You haven't yet I see."  
  
"What are you talking about?" Silky demanded.  
  
"I see that you have no idea who you really are," the echidna mused. "Okay, let me tell you a tale…  
  
"Thirteen years ago, in the beautiful and prosperous kingdom of Gigapolis, the much loved Queen Felicity fell ill with a disease that would prevent her from ever having children. Poor lady, she was such a wonderful person but she went and got an incurable disease. Oh it can happen to the best of us, I'll tell you. Anyway, Queen Felicity decided to name her niece, her sister's daughter as the heir to the throne. Unfortunately the Queen and Florescent (her sister) both died in an accident and Florescent's family all disappeared without a trace. So ended the long lasting monarchy of Gigapolis. The end. A sad tale isn't it?"  
  
Sora-Ya shot an evil look at Silky. "Ha! That's the only official tale," she said, "but I can tell you that official doesn't necessarily mean the truth. When it's governments we're talking about official tale more often than not is a lie made up to protect their reputation. The true story is somewhat different.  
  
"Thirteen years ago, in Gigapolis, the great Queen Felicity did indeed fall ill with a disease that rendered her completely infertile. And she did indeed decide to name her niece to be the heir to the throne. And yes, she died before she could make it public. As for her younger sister, I'm afraid that the truth is far worse than the official tale.  
  
"The throne of Gigapolis means total power over the country, for it is still a dictatorship, although by far the world's most benign one for the people of the country are happy and content. The reigning monarch may be the head of a council that runs the country but they are the one with the final word so that makes it a dictatorship really doesn't it? With that position also comes a seat in the United Earth Government, which gives one the chance to change the world, if they can work their way to becoming the World President that is. The fact that so powerful a position can be simply inherited has long been frowned upon by other more democratic countries as it could put a complete retard in a position of power, which can be easily abused. I guess Gigapolis has been lucky.  
  
"It would seem that Felicity's younger sister, Florescent desired to have that position and was angered by the Queen's decision to pass the throne on to her daughter. So she killed her. She killed her own sister and tried to cover it up. With no official evidence she hoped to ascend to the throne but she was caught and put to death for high treason.  
  
"At the end of the day, the closest legitimate heir to the throne became Florescent's daughter anyway, who it was decided should not be overshadowed by her mother's crime. She became the Princess of Gigapolis. However she was only an infant so it was decided to keep this whole event secret from the world, even secret from the Princess, and to send the new her away to foster parents in a different country under a new name. It would seem that her own identity was kept secret, even from her, possibly to maintain the secrecy. For if someone thinks that they are just your ordinary every day nobody, that's how they'll act, you'd think.  
  
"If you haven't guessed who I'm on about yet, it's you, Princess Silky Gemini."  
  
Silky had guessed of course, for it was plain. But she felt too dumbfounded to say anything. Was this echidna telling the truth? Of course she was. She and Eggman wouldn't demand the plans to a weapon from someone who they knew didn't possess them. But even if all this was true, why would she have the plans to this weapon anyway? Finally Silky managed to speak.  
  
"If I am who you say I am," she said, "then what has this EMD Cannon got to do with me?"  
  
"It's the EMP Cannon and it has a good deal to do with you, your highness," said the echidna with a smile. "The story of the EMP beam dates back over two hundred and sixty years ago, before the Great Reformation of 2236. Before then, the Earth was a warring world and many powerful countries possessed weapons of mass destruction such as atomic bombs and nuclear rockets. Of all the world's barbarous and horrific weapons, Gigapolis possessed the most unique of them all, the Electromagnetic Pulse Cannon. Now an electromagnetic pulse is a wave of radiation that can wipe out every device with an electric circuit within a given range but its totally harmless to people (unless they're near electric machinery of course). Not many people used it to create weapons, as it was hard to control. But one group of scientists working for the Gigapolis military managed to turn this wave of radiation into a concentrated beam that could be aimed at any object. The beam bursts into an explosion on impact releasing the electromagnetic radiation over the surrounding area, be it a military base or an entire city and the effects pass on through every electric circuit connected to the targeted areas. Still it was a weapon designed not to kill but simply to throw dust in the enemy's eyes as you might say and they're left defenceless to any assault that might follow."  
  
"So why would I have the plans to this weapon?" asked Silky.  
  
"Because it would have the same protection as you," Sora-Ya said as if it was most obvious. "The fact that you're just another nobody in a whole world of nobodies."  
  
"If I had these plans," Silky asked, "don't you think I'd know?"  
  
"Definitely not," Sora-Ya scoffed. "They're probably in some clever little device that you were given and told never to part with. Do you have such a thing?"  
  
Silky's hand moved up towards her star necklace but she soon stopped herself. Of course! How simple! Her necklace was given to her when she was very young. It was a gift from her father apparently and she had been made to promise never to take it off, and so it had been. Since being given it Silky had always worn it, except when she washed of course. It was the only thing she had from any of her real family and for that she had cherished it.  
  
"No," she said in answer to Sora-Ya. "No I don't."  
  
"You're lying, Silky," said the echidna. "I can always tell when I'm being lied to as I have explained. I don't know where to look for this device. It is probable that it is still on Earth at the Squirrels' house. If so it will be retrieved. But do you have it with you?"  
  
Silky became stuck. She didn't know how her necklace could contain any plans, as it was only diamond and silver after all. At the same time, she didn't want to part with her necklace to this terrorist. She couldn't lie to Sora-Ya without her knowing but then she thought of a plan. Upon her finger was a golden ring with a blue stone in it. It had been a birthday present from her last foster family and parting with it would be difficult but her necklace meant far more to her.  
  
"Yes," she said with pretend effort.  
  
Sora-Ya smiled for her psychic senses informed her that Silky was indeed telling the truth. She held out her hand and said: "Give it to me."  
  
Silky slipped the ring off her finger, trying to look reluctant to do so and handed it over to the echidna. She half expected her to say something like; "How the hell is this going to have any plans in it?" or; "Now tell me how I access the plans", but she was lucky.  
  
Sora-Ya left the room in a hurry and shut the door behind her leaving Silky feeling like she had had a very narrow escape. Still she had not escaped at all. 


	8. Chapter 8 The Wild Waste

1 Chapter 8 The Wild Waste  
  
Sonic found himself in deep darkness. Where were all of the city's lights? And why was it so quiet? As Sonic glanced about in the darkness he noticed that the silence was total and almost deathlike. The only sound was his feet upon a sandy floor as he moved about. He could tell that he was in a wide-open space but it was too dark for him to see anything but the countless stars that covered the skies and a far away horizon of what seemed like rugged land standing black against the navy blue sky. There was no Moon. He shivered for though it was summer there seemed a chill in this silent place with no sunlight to give warmth.  
  
Sonic took some steps forward and felt that the sandy ground was strewn with stones. It suddenly dawned on the hedgehog that he was in a desert, one of the huge wastelands that lay far away from Station Square in the central regions of Mobotropolis far north and west. But how had Sonic come here? He thought back to the machine that Eggman had used against him only a minute or two ago back in the city.  
  
"That yellow light," he mused. "I'm sure I saw something in there…"  
  
Sonic realised that what he had seen was in fact a Power Ring. He had seen and used many on Angel Island to travel in the Special Zone, a realm where Knuckles had hidden the Chaos Emeralds from Sonic and Tails. These rings could take you to anywhere on the planet and with enough power they could take you into other dimensions like the Special Zone.  
  
"But how did old Egg-head manage to shoot it at me?" Sonic wondered. "If he shot it at me that is. I hate that man! When I catch him…"  
  
Sonic decided not to do much until the Moon had risen, giving him some light, and so he waited (something he was never very good at). He tapped his foot impatiently on the ground and rolled back his left glove to look at his watch. Lucky for him his watch could illuminate in darkness but then it dawned on him that even so his watch was no use at all. That would give the hedgehog no idea of when the Moon would rise as the nearest desert of this nature to Station Square was in a different time zone to the Wild Waste Zone, as that desert was known, was large enough for him to be even further away. It had been nearing 1:00 am in Station Square and being further west of the city it meant that there was some time yet before the Moon would rise to give him light.  
  
At length, the half-circle of the Moon rose up slowly out of the east and the lands became visible, dull and grey; a stony wasteland that was well named. About the desert were great and wide pillars of rock jutting out of the land high into the air. Sonic saw that he was on the side of a huge basin through whose bed there flowed a river in a deep canyon. All about the place were dry shrubs and tall cacti that cast long shadows over the grey land. The hedgehog looked at the glittering river.  
  
"If I'm right," said Sonic to himself, "that's the Golden River and that joins up with the Emerald River some way south-east of here."  
  
Sonic started on his way. He reached the canyon and sprinted along its high cliff edge. It was best to try and get as far as possible before sunrise for then this desert would become blazing hot, too hot for his liking. Hopefully he wasn't too far away from Viridian Valley, the first city along the Golden River from its source in the mountains to Sonic's back, away west over the horizon. The city stood right upon the very place where the Golden River joined the Emerald River. From there, he was sure to get back to Station Square either by plane or by river for many boats went up and down the wide waters carrying passengers or cargo.  
  
As Sonic ran he failed to notice what would have looked like a shooting star high up in the dark sky, sailing slowly westward. But it wasn't a shooting a star at all. It was a robot. Mecha Sonic had returned to Earth on another mission having received much praise from his master for the capture of Silky, something Sonic was completely unaware of. For, you see, that was Eggman's plan all along: to remove the obstacles that were Sonic and Tails so that his robot could kidnap its target with little resistance, though he got more than he expected. His mission now was straightforward: seek and destroy Sonic the Hedgehog.  
  
Sonic had no idea of the danger he was in. He was in the open wilderness in the night, visible under the moonlight, and to a robot that possesses infrared vision, totally clear against the cold ground. Mecha Sonic swooped in low, gliding along the ground without a sound, which is why Sonic never even gave thought to glancing round. If he had he would have seen the robot, with silenced twin jet thrusters blazing with an aqua green light and behind him a great plume of dust cast into the air behind as he flew. Of course Mecha Sonic's engines weren't completely silent but the air rushing past Sonic as he ran at over three hundred kilometres per hour was enough to block out the sound of even a noisier pursuer. Mecha Sonic caught up with Sonic quickly as the hedgehog was "just cruising" as he might say, for he was not travelling at his maximum speed or anywhere near it to tell the truth.  
  
Suddenly he was struck down by a heavy blow from a metal hand. He collapsed to the floor and rolled into the dust in a heap. The robot passed by and circled around for another attack. Sonic got up and saw the silhouette of the robot through the dust cloud, illuminated by the moonlight. He knew at once what robot this was. He leaped out of the way and got ready as Mecha Sonic came back. But this time he could not strike for the robot had converted to his spiked ball shape. He bounced off the ground a spun over Sonic's head as he ducked. As soon as the robot transformed back to its normal shape Sonic struck it in the face with a hard blow. The robot was flung to the ground but he was powerful. This was not a Mecha Sonic that the hedgehog had seen before, this seemed stronger, faster and more streamlined, a frightening combination of the Silver Sonic, the original Mecha Sonic and the Metal Sonic, including all of these three robots' strengths but none of their weaknesses.  
  
In the end Sonic saw no end to their fight (none at least that did not involve his own death), so he decided to give one final blow and run for it. He didn't get far before Mecha Sonic was hard at his heels.  
  
"It is useless to resist," the robot declared. "Soon you will become worn out and then I will destroy you. It is better to let me destroy you now than to go on knowing that the only end to this encounter is your death."  
  
"No robot's ever beaten me and it's not gonna start now!" Sonic roared as he accelerated to his top speed, faster than the speed of sound. From a distance all that would have been seen would be a pale cloud of dust lifting swiftly from the plain as the two hedgehogs, one real and one robotic, raced along the top of the canyon.  
  
Sonic began to feel a pain in his legs; he could not possibly carry on like this without hurting himself, but if he stopped this robot would surely defeat him in combat. There were many large stones along the rugged cliff edge and some were quite large. Quick as thinking Sonic grabbed a large and heavy stone as he passed it and held it in his hand. Without the slightest warning, he slung his right arm round with the stone and let it fly into the robot's face. Mecha Sonic fell back and collapsed to the ground at the very edge of the cliff and toppled off, falling over the brink into the deep canyon below.  
  
Sonic stopped for a second to take a breath when the very same rock he had cast at Mecha Sonic struck the ground near his feet. He looked up and saw Mecha Sonic hovering in the air over the cliff.  
  
"That was a mistake," he said. "And now you shall regret it."  
  
Sonic made ready to run again but there was no need. Mecha Sonic's head blew straight off his body and his limbs and torso spun flaming to the ground, either on the cliff or deep into the canyon. Through the very spot in the sky where the robot had just been a blue biplane flew overhead with two rocket engines glowing under the fuselage. It was the Tornado 2.  
  
The plane circled round and Tails waved at Sonic, for it was he who had destroyed Mecha Sonic, using his plane's missile launcher. The Tornado 2 glided under the cliff and Sonic jumped onto the back behind the cockpit.  
  
So they flew back to Station Square in the Tornado 2 but Sonic had quite a few questions to ask of his friend.  
  
"Didn't Eggman warp you somewhere?" he asked. "I thought he was taking notice of you now."  
  
"Yeah he is," said Tails. "He still thinks you're his archenemy though of course. He used the machine on you first then fired it at me."  
  
"So how'd you get back home so soon?"  
  
"Well I'm only guessing here but I think it's because it used up most of its power on you, taking you out to this desert. It took me east while you went west but I think Eggman was hoping to send me to the other side of the Sand Ocean. Lucky for me I was just sent to the western side seeing as there wasn't enough power to take me all the way. I know a tunnel through the mountains into the Mystic Ruins from that desert; I was led in there by that fat purple cat's frog last October during that whole Chaos affair. Anyway I went through the tunnel, came into the Mystic Ruins and went up to my workshop where I found the Tornado 2 all ready for me. I've still got the yellow Chaos Emerald that the President gave me last year so I used that as a power source."  
  
They were flying now over the vast cornfields that lay in the farmland between Viridian Valley and Station Square. Sonic was not finished yet.  
  
"How did you know where to find me, pal?" he asked.  
  
"Remember your birthday present?" asked Tails. "From Uncle Chuck."  
  
Sonic looked at his watch. He'd quite forgotten that it had been one of his presents for his eighteenth birthday, which had been Saturday the twenty-third of June.  
  
"Yeah," said Sonic, looking at it. "Sorry, buddy, I forgot about that, what with the whole Shadow, space colony and Eclipse Cannon stuff that started that day. Anyway I've never thought much of my birthday, it's just another day to be honest."  
  
"Well the watch has a tracking device inside it, which allowed me to find you."  
  
"Why didn't Uncle Chuck tell me this?"  
  
"He did. You obviously forgot." 


	9. Chapter 9 The Secret Of The Star Necklac...

Chapter 9 The Secret of the Star Necklace  
  
After having landed the Tornado 2 at Tails's workshop, Sonic and Tails boarded a train out of the Mystic Ruins to Station Square. It was a good half-hour's journey by train but Tails could not fly all the way to Station Square for he was tired. He and Sonic managed to get a short doze aboard the train but it was hardly long enough in their opinion.  
  
At last they were home and they returned to the Emerald Coast hotel, which was right next to the East District station. To their surprise there was a large black limousine parked outside, with two escort police cars parked at either end.  
  
"Who do you think it is?" asked Sonic.  
  
"The President!" Tails exclaimed as they drew nearer. "Look at the number plate."  
  
It was indeed the President's limousine for the number-plate said "PREZ 1" and it was the very same car that Sonic and Tails had had a short (and uninvited) ride in the day that Eggman destroyed the Moon with the Eclipse Cannon. Sonic and Tails walked through the lobby and took the lift to the top floor, where Charles's penthouse was.  
  
"Ah," said Charles as Sonic and Tails entered. "Here they are."  
  
In an armchair in the lounge sat Charles, opposite him on the sofa sat the President, the Vice President and his son, Eon. In an armchair nearby sat an old man with a briefcase on his lap. Sonic had never seen this man before in his life.  
  
"Ah, Sonic," said the President. "I need to talk with you and Tails, it's a matter of great importance I'm afraid."  
  
Sonic and Tails sat down and let the President continue.  
  
"Last night at about 1:00 am, Mister Squirrel's house was broken into by a robot. This robot injured both Mister Squirrel and his son Eon here, fortunately not too seriously. But it took captive the vixen who they've been good enough to look after for a while. Her name's Silky and I believe you've met?"  
  
"We have," said Tails, who would often hang out with Eon for they were good friends and he had also got to know Silky.  
  
"What would a robot want with Silky?" asked Sonic.  
  
"Well the robot was Robotnik's new copy of you and that's something I'm about to explain," said the President. "But I must ask you all to never repeat what you hear now outside of this room to anyone save those here now. Do I have your word on that?"  
  
Everyone agreed. Charles got up and closed the blind over the window. He then opened the door and took a glance into the corridor; it was empty.  
  
"All clear," he said.  
  
And so, the President told the tale of how, thirteen years ago, the beloved Queen Felicity of Gigapolis had been murdered by her own sister, and how Florescent had been executed under the charge of treason. It was much the same as how Sora-Ya was telling the tale to her captive aboard the ARK around that same time, but the President told it with grief and sadness unlike the malice that gleamed in the echidna's eyes as she spoke. With the discovery that his girlfriend was the Princess and future Queen of Gigapolis, Eon's eyes widened and he rose to his feet in surprise. He demanded to know if Silky had known this and then he demanded to know why Silky had never been told.  
  
"Okay so she's a Princess," said Sonic. "And you think Eggman's kidnapped her?"  
  
"Who else builds robotic copies of you?" asked the President.  
  
"Has he demanded a ransom yet?"  
  
"No. That may not be what Robotnik wants."  
  
"Why else would he capture her?"  
  
"I can answer that," said the stranger. "I am Nigel Harrington, I'm a professional jeweller from Gigapolis. I designed and crafted the Princess's star necklace myself."  
  
"She always wears that," said Eon. "It was from her father. But what's that got to do with anything?"  
  
"Allow we to tell you," said Harrington. And he explained the concept of the Electromagnetic Pulse Cannon, and about EMP's effects only on electrical machinery and not on people. "Only one set of plans exists in the world, all others have been destroyed. The full design schematics of the cannon are within the star necklace."  
  
"So it's like a computer chip or something?" asked Tails.  
  
"No. It's a highly sophisticated piece of jewellery that I invented myself. See?"  
  
Harrington opened up his briefcase and showed many intricately shaped diamond necklaces very much like Silky's; all with polished silver casing around the centre, which in each was a coloured diamond. He picked up a round one encircled in clear diamond and with a red coloured diamond in its centre.  
  
"This is my original necklace of this nature," he said. "My "prototype" if you will."  
  
He took out a strange looking device, like a large lamp with several heads attached to a clamp. He fixed the necklace into the clamp and moved the heads of the lamp to encircle it. He plugged the lamp in and switched it on. The lights were bright that shone into the diamond but that was not even half as amazing as what came out of the red diamond in the centre. A broad beam of red light was cast out and landed on the white wall of the lounge and in this light there was a shape. It was a cube.  
  
"Now that's clever!" Charles exclaimed with approval.  
  
"Thank you," said Harrington. "But believe me that's not the best it can do."  
  
He opened a tiny cover at the back of the necklace and a small lever appeared. Its head was a tiny wheel that turned easily with a gentle touch of the finger and the lever itself rotated by hand. When Harrington turned either the wheel or the lever the image of the cube on the wall would rotate in that same direction allowing the cube to face in any direction.  
  
"And that, gentlemen," said Harrington, "is exactly how the detailed design schematics can be inside the star necklace. The government of Gigapolis heard about my works and paid me a fortune not to sell my ideas to anyone and to create one very special and completely unique necklace, the star necklace, in which the plans to the EMP Cannon could be placed. I did it and transferred the plans into the purple diamond of that necklace by sophisticated lasers. That was one hell of a challenge I might add."  
  
"I see how it works!" said Tails. "The light enters through the diamond on the outside and is somehow reflected into the central diamond which is surrounded by mirrors allowing the light to only come back out through the front. The designs are etched into the centre of the diamond in full 3D, which allows it to be rotated like you just showed."  
  
"That's just about right," said Harrington with a smile.  
  
"Very clever indeed!" said Charles; he was certainly impressed.  
  
"Sonic," said the President. "Robotnik must not build this weapon! If he does he'll have the ability to destroy all machines that operate on electricity in any city on Earth. In the confusion, he could land an army of robots without warning and take over the city with nothing to stop him. If he puts those plans on computer you must destroy them, understand?"  
  
"Why not just destroy the plans in the necklace as well?" asked Tails.  
  
"That weapon belongs to Gigapolis," said the President. "Unless the Steward of Gigapolis says otherwise, the necklace must remain intact. They want to have at least one copy of the plans."  
  
"I say forget that!" said Sonic suddenly. "This weapon could be a nightmare if Eggman got his hands on it! We have to stop it from ever happening and that means the necklace has to be destroyed!"  
  
"No!" snapped Eon. "That necklace means a lot to Silky. Can't you remove the plans somehow?"  
  
"They're etched inside the diamond with powerful lasers," said Harrington. "A similar laser could remove the plans but I promise you, Gigapolis will not be at all pleased if you did that, and I wouldn't be pleased either. It took me days to put the plans into that diamond! Days I tell you! And the scientists who designed it spent years doing so. You would waste a hell of a lot of effort destroying those plans."  
  
"Listen, buddy," said Sonic. "I destroy piles of effort all the time! Eggman puts tonnes of effort into his weapons and I scrap 'em all. I really don't see this weapon as being much different. All weapons are alike to me and if I can stop it from ever being built that's a bonus."  
  
"Gigapolis has demanded that the necklace be recovered so that Mister Harrington can deal with it under the Steward's orders," said the President. "And so it shall be. I have two choices. The first is to ask you and any friends of yours, who know how to deal with Robotnik, to infiltrate the ARK, rescue the Princess and destroy any duplicate of the plans that Robotnik might have made, returning with the necklace. The second is to hire GUN's expertise and send in some of the best troops on Earth to do the same. I'd much rather send someone who knows the enemy and has on six different occasions thwarted his attempts at world domination but if you're unwilling I have no right to force you and I won't. But you're a hero, in fact you're the hero of Earth and all I'm asking is for you to help me keep the peace by doing something you're good at."  
  
Sonic stood silent. He did not wish to return a weapon of mass destruction to the government but he saw the rescue of Silky as being more important. Anyway he was not prepared to turn down an opportunity to fight Eggman so he could not refuse.  
  
"All right," he said. "I'll do it. Tell me what to do." 


	10. Chapter 10 Sonic's Old Friend

Okay this where the story gets kind of odd. Please don't mistake the Sally in this chapter for Princess Sally. She's actually just supposed to be the original Sally Acorn from the SoA promotional comic strip and the earlier issues of Sonic The Comic and she's not royalty of any sort. I suppose you could say she's a combination of Sally's.  
  
1 Chapter 10 Sonic's Old Friend  
  
In Station Square's military airport, Pegasus One was being loaded up for launch with a cargo that Charles had never expected: military grade weapons. Sonic stood by with Tails and Amy as the heavy artillery was piled into the cargo hold. The President walked out towards them.  
  
"Okay," said an angry Sonic. "You said it was either me and my friends or GUN, not both. I'm not working with those idiots!"  
  
"No," said the President, "you're not. It just so happens that GUN produce the best military grade weapons available and something like that will come in handy, won't it? You're not working with them, I know you wouldn't co-operate, so instead you're going to be working with them!"  
  
He turned and cast out his arm towards three people dressed in black coats, each wearing dark sunglasses. One was a purple weasel with a battered brown hat on his head, the next was a female red squirrel and the third was…  
  
"Rouge!" cried Sonic, Tails and Amy all together.  
  
The white female bat removed her glasses revealing her aqua green eyes a smiled; her white fangs clear in the bright sunlight. "Hi, guys," she said. "Nice to see you again. Pity we couldn't get hold of Knuckles for this job, does he have no radio or anything? I'd have liked to have seen him again."  
  
"You've met Rouge, I know," interrupted the President. "Well may I introduce the Mobotropolis Secret Service. These three are some of the service's finest agents. Rouge the Bat, an expert in stealth and theft, Nack the Weasel, our munitions expert, and Sally Acorn, our finest expert in computer programming."  
  
Sonic was shocked and amazed, surprisingly by the last two names especially. Nack the Weasel had been hired by Eggman a couple of years ago to capture Sonic and he had succeeded. The hedgehog found it hard to believe that a criminal bounty hunter like Nack had actually signed on to the Secret Service, and named by the President himself to be one of the finest agents in the service. But he was still more surprised to hear a name he had not heard since he had left South Island over two years ago, when the Death Egg had been destroyed. Sally Acorn had been Sonic's best friend ever since his first days of school. Their last encounter was in tears, for Sonic was going all the way to Station Square, over two thousand kilometres away from South Island across open sea and it was unlikely that they would ever meet again. While Sonic was horribly shocked to find he was working with an old enemy, he was pleasantly surprised now to discover he was working with an old friend. Sonic was amazed by the agents he was working with as were his companions and so it was that they all failed to notice a figure creep stealthily into the shuttle.  
  
"Sally!" he cried with joy. Unable to contain himself, he burst forward and embraced the squirrel, so happy to see her. "Wow! I never thought I'd see you again!"  
  
"Same here," said Sally removing her sunglasses. She had brilliant blue eyes and long wavy red hair that hung down in front of her face in several thick bangs and was tied in a ponytail behind her head. "Of course I've seen you all over the TV and newspapers but you know what I mean. So how have you been?"  
  
"Pretty good, Sal," said Sonic happily. "How about you?  
  
"All right, you two!" said Charles coming out to the shuttle from the. "I knew you two would be pleased, but believe me, the Space Colony ARK's position right now in orbit will give us at least a good five hours before arriving so you'll have all that time to do all the catching up you like on the way. Let's go!"  
  
The last munitions crate was secured on board and the seven passengers were strapped safely in lift off seats ready to go. The engines began to hum. The jet intake vents drew in air and the outside-mirrored glass of the cockpit window glimmered in the sunlight as Pegasus One trundled around and onto the runway of the military airport.  
  
"Goodbye," said the President who had gone up into the control tower. "And good luck!"  
  
The shuttle raced along the runway and lifted into the air, climbing fast. It reached its optimal height of four thousand metres above sea level and the jets cut, the rockets took over and Pegasus One was soon in space again.  
  
It was a long way from here to the ARK as it orbited the Earth like a second moon but much faster. It also orbited from east to west, against the Earth's rotation; it also followed a set course about the equator and did not move up and down like the Moon. Unfortunately the ARK was currently on the other side of the world, so to get to it the fastest, the shuttle was now on an orbital path from west to east to intercept the ARK with all speed.  
  
Still there was as Charles had said a good five hours to go so the crew had to find something to occupy them for now. Charles sat with Tails on the flight deck and discussed the many possibilities now open thanks to this new shuttle and many other things. Nack, Rouge and Sally were going through the crates in the cargo hold, deciding what to arm themselves with once they reached the ARK, of which I might say Nack was extremely enthusiastic about, being a lover of guns and weapons of all kinds. Sonic sat in the dining room with Amy (not his first choice for company however) and they talked on random topics, particularly how much Sonic did not trust Nack.  
  
Nack drew a magnum from the holster at his side.  
  
"See that gal?" he said to Rouge. "It was me dad's. Been in the family since… erm… since me old man bought it. Anyways, he 'anded it down to me."  
  
"Did he die?" asked Rouge who was studying a crate of automatic weapons.  
  
"Dunno," said Nack. "I ain't seen him since I was sixteen! The old tosspot kicked me out 'cause he says I was too big for 'im to handle. I got even though and nicked off with 'is pride 'n' joy." He stroked the well- polished gun. "Rough 'n' tough out there in the outback I can tell ya."  
  
"Hmmm," Rouge mused. "I'm not a fan of the big loud and clear type of approach, I prefer to be more subtle, that's what made me a professional treasure hunter. Any gun I've ever carried had a silencer. I suppose I'll make an exception just this once." She armed herself with a pair of uzis.  
  
Nack holstered his gun and picked up a nine-millimetre automatic, a shotgun and a long combat knife with a serrated edge. All these he attached to himself with a series of gun belts and holsters. Finally he opened a large crate and took out a huge automatic assault rifle and slung it over his shoulder with its strap.  
  
"You got quite enough?" asked Sally. "You look like you're going to war."  
  
"D'ya know 'ow many robots we'll be up against?" asked Nack. "Probably a few million, y'know. Gotta be ready."  
  
"Now that's what I call trigger-happy!" asked Rouge.  
  
"Nothin' like a nice gun," grinned the weasel, arming himself with spare ammunition for each gun and a belt of grenades.  
  
Sally got up and left the cargo hold, she wanted to talk to Sonic.  
  
Sonic was getting bored now. Amy was talking about all sorts of things that didn't interest him in the least and he was just staying there to be polite. At length he heard Amy say; "Well anyway, I think I'll go and have a bit of a sleep now, we've still got four and a half hours at least before we get to the ARK." He looked up and saw her cross the corridor from the dining room to the staircase down into the living quarters below the flight deck. He gave a sigh of relief and decided to find Sally, but there was no need for even as he made to get up she came through the doorway.  
  
"I'm sorry," said Sonic. "We said we'd stay in touch."  
  
"We didn't though, did we?" said Sally. "I'm sorry too. It's as much my fault as it is yours. I've missed you."  
  
"I've missed you too," said Sonic. "You've grown up to be really beautiful, Sal. I always thought you were pretty y'know but you've really got… well… stunning."  
  
Sally blushed. "Thanks," she said. "You're still as cute as ever. You haven't changed at all in two years."  
  
"Not much," said Sonic. "So where are you living now?"  
  
"South Island still," said Sally. "When I'm on leave that is. I usually am you see, that's the good thing about this job, lots of free time and brilliant pay. When I'm working I usually get an apartment wherever I'm assigned and that can be anywhere in the world. I've got enough money to move to Station Square though, and I think I will."  
  
"Why not move straight in at my uncle's?" asked Sonic. "You can stay with us 'til you find yourself a place."  
  
"I might just do that."  
  
Sonic and Sally sat together in the dining room for quite a while. All was quiet save the low murmur of the engines feeding the shuttle with power. They sat very close together and soon Sonic had his arm around Sally. She made no objection.  
  
"Kiss me," she said and Sonic obliged.  
  
Tails walked passed the dining room entrance on the way back to the flight deck having gone to get a snack from the kitchen. He glanced in and saw Sonic and Sally in each other's arms kissing. Tails had known that Sonic and Sally had been great friends, maybe greater friends than himself and Sonic, but he'd never thought it could go this far. He returned to the flight deck rather flustered.  
  
"What's wrong?" asked Charles. "Eat something spicy?"  
  
"No," said Tails. "Did Sonic ever go out with Sally?"  
  
"All the time!" said Charles. "They were best friends. They did just about everything together."  
  
"No, I mean go out as in on a date?"  
  
"Erm… Not that I know of, Tails. They were best friends of course but I never saw it going further than that."  
  
"Well it's just that they're making out in the dining room, and it's not because they're happy to see each other. I think Sonic's in love." He sniggered.  
  
"Good for him," Charles didn't even raise his head in surprise. "I'll remember to snigger when you get a girlfriend Mister Prower."  
  
That shut Tails up. He wanted to go and see if Sonic and Sally were still at it but Charles wouldn't have it.  
  
"You just stay here," he said. "It's none of your business is Sonic's love-life (if he actually has one, maybe he's too cool for it). Anyway, I need two sets of eyes up here at least to make sure we're flying straight and on course."  
  
"Yeah, whatever," laughed Tails, as the shuttle hurtled onwards towards its destination. 


	11. Chapter 11 Secret No More

Chapter 11 Secret No More  
  
"Nothing!" cried Eggman casting the broken ring across the room. "This ring is useless!"  
  
"That's about the size of it," said Sora-Ya, examining the blue stone with a magnifying glass.  
  
"She must have lied to you," said Eggman. "You told me that no one could lie to you without you knowing!"  
  
"I know what I said," said Sora-Ya. "And I'll have you know it's true. But then you know that already, don't you."  
  
"So why did she give you this?" asked Eggman. "How did you bring me the wrong thing?"  
  
"Stupid of me," said Sora-Ya. "I simply asked her if she possessed an item that she was told never to part with. She tried to lie to me but I could tell straight away. I then asked if she had that item with her and she gave me the ring!"  
  
"You never confirmed that the ring was the item you sought?" Eggman suggested.  
  
"Precisely!" cried Sora-Ya. "I'll go and get the real thing from her."  
  
"This time I'll come myself," said Eggman and so he did.  
  
They found Silky sitting huddled in a corner with her face buried in her lap. She looked up as the door opened but to Sora-Ya's disappointment she wasn't crying, but there was fear in her eyes.  
  
"That ring wasn't what I wanted was it?" asked the echidna.  
  
"It was important to me," said Silky, trying to avoid lying at the same time as avoid the truth about her necklace, which still remained hidden from sight within her pyjama shirt.  
  
"Maybe," said Sora-Ya, "but it didn't contain any plans. I suppose you still have the item I'm looking for."  
  
Silky was silent.  
  
"You just can't bare to reveal it to me, can you?" Sora-Ya grinned evilly. "Something which you've cherished for so long as your only family heirloom. You might as well give it up, because Gigapolis has been using you, using you to carry one of its many secrets. Believe me, whatever it is, it was given to you for no sentimental reasons. It was given to you to hide a weapon of mass destruction that the wicked would use to enslave mankind. Trust me, we don't want to use it for anything like that. We want it so that we can change the world for the better."  
  
"I don't need psychic powers to recognise that lie," said Silky.  
  
"It's not a lie, Princess," said Eggman. "Earth has so much potential, it can be so great! But the governments keep a lid on advancement for various ethical and religious reasons, so we're stuck. There are stupid people who don't want their lives to get any better! Why? I don't know! But everyone can have a better life if technology of all kinds is allowed to advance! Government doesn't do anything. They sit around shouting at each other all day over trifles while people everywhere suffer because nothing ever gets done. We can end that. I don't want to rule the world as a tyrant; I want to open the doors to a better future - for everyone! Just like my grandfather"  
  
"That's why we chose the EMP Cannon," said Sora-Ya. "It disables all machines in a given radius but it's relatively harmless to people (unless they happen to be driving a car or using some other electrical machine)."  
  
"You must think I'm very stupid," said Silky. "Forget it! You can't have my…" She faltered.  
  
"Yes?" asked Sora-Ya.  
  
"Kiss my arse," Silky retorted.  
  
"How unladylike," said Eggman. "All right! No more Mister Nice-nik! You know what it is and one way or another we'll get it from you. You can either give it to us with no trouble or we'll search you for it after we've knocked you out cold."  
  
Silky stuck her middle finger up in front of Eggman's face.  
  
"Since such is your answer…" said Eggman, as Sora-Ya came behind Silky with her gun drawn. She turned the gun round so that she held it with the barrel and then struck the vixen in the back of the head with the handle. Silky fell to ground unconscious.  
  
"Search her," said Eggman.  
  
"Excuse me!" cried Sora-Ya. "Who are you to order me? The deal was that we're partners in this plan. And who's done most of the planning?"  
  
"I have other things to attend to," said Eggman.  
  
"Like what?"  
  
"Mecha Sonic has been salvaged. His mission was a failure and I must find out why."  
  
With that, Eggman turned and left the room with Sora-Ya and the unconscious vixen behind. Sora-Ya soon found the star necklace about Silky's neck but she did not stop searching until she was sure she had found the only possible location of the plans. With the necklace in hand she left the room and shut the door once again.  
  
Eggman was angry. He was in the command centre of the ARK and Mecha Sonic II had been sent to his workshop to be reassembled. First though, Eggman had found out how his prized creation had failed by plugging his CPU into the hard drive of the ARK's computer and uploading the robot's visual log.  
  
"Stupid interfering fox-boy!" he growled. "If it wasn't for him and his wretched plane, MS II would have turned Sonic into ashes!"  
  
"Something wrong?" asked Sora-Ya, as she entered the command centre.  
  
"Mecha Sonic failed," said Eggman.  
  
"Oh dear," said Sora-Ya. "Well if the plans aren't in this little necklace, I don't know where they are." She held up the star necklace. It glittered in the light and a pale purple ray shone from the central diamond onto the floor.  
  
"Sonic was rescued by Tails!" cried Eggman. "Don't you realise that by now the President of Mobotropolis will realise that the Princess is my prisoner? With Sonic and Tails safely back in Station Square, they'll probably be planning an attack on the ARK to rescue her!"  
  
"Let them. We don't need her now."  
  
"But how the hell are the plans going to be in that? And if they're not we still need the Princess!"  
  
"The plans will be in the necklace if I'm right. I think I know what this beautiful piece of jewellery really is. Let me show you."  
  
"Very well."  
  
"Does this place have a cinema screen?"  
  
"I think so, several if I'm not mistaken."  
  
Eggman and Sora-Ya headed for the nearest cinema screen, which happened to be a mere five minutes journey by the ARK's turbo-train system. Upon arrival, Sora-Ya placed the necklace in front of the projector and placed several more lights around it, all pointing into the diamond points of the star. She turned on the power and a ray of bright purple light shot out of the central diamond onto the blank cinema screen. Eggman gave a stifled cry of amazement to see a complicated series of diagrams on the huge screen. They were definitely the plans to a complicated and powerful cannon, but there were no labels, only numbered arrows pointing to each component.  
  
"So we have the diagrams!" laughed Eggman. "Now where are the instructions, the labels! How am I supposed to know what materials to build this cannon from?"  
  
"Simple," said Sora-Ya. "You see these patterns on the silver of the necklace?"  
  
"Yes," said Eggman, glancing at the intricate carvings in the necklace's silver structure.  
  
"Those are the instructions that go with the cannon," said the echidna. "They are in the ancient echidna alphabet but the language is simple English. I can translate that text very easily. It's because of that that I knew this necklace did indeed contain the plans."  
  
"Genius! But how did you know how to get that diagram?"  
  
"There's a lot of state secrets that I know of, and this series of necklaces is one of them. The necklace was made by the world-renowned jeweller, Nigel Harrington, based on a series he had planned. The government of Gigapolis paid him a fortune to keep all of the necklaces himself and make only one to give away, one containing a secret that was not stated in the report. Having found this necklace it was simple enough to put two and two together."  
  
"Genius!" Eggman repeated. "Now we must get this image uploaded onto computer so that I can draw out some real design schematics! You must translate the labels on the necklace at once!"  
  
"I'll get on it right away," said Sora-Ya. 


	12. Chapter 12 The Best Laid Plans

1 Chapter 12 The Best Laid Plans  
  
"We're approaching the ARK," said Charles over Pegasus One's intercom. "Ten minutes to landing."  
  
"She looks calm," he said to Tails as he looked at the shuttle's scanners. "Wow, she's also absolutely massive."  
  
"Yeah," said Tails in agreement. "Uncle Chuck, how come Eggman doesn't spot us?"  
  
"You've got the lovely Rouge to thank for that," said the old hedgehog. "An expert in stealth she most certainly is! She supplied me with a stealth shield projector for Pegasus One, allowing us to sneak into the ARK completely undetected. Hopefully Eggman won't have seen us being preoccupied with the EMP Cannon plans."  
  
In the dining room, Sonic and Sally still sat in each other's arms with their lips together in a series of passionate kissing. Suddenly Sonic broke free and jumped back wide eyed as a frightened rabbit.  
  
"What's the matter?" asked Sally.  
  
"Th… That!" Sonic stuttered.  
  
"So? We kissed, big deal," said Sally. "I thought you were happy to see me."  
  
"Well I am," said Sonic. "I'm very happy to see you but…"  
  
"Then why shouldn't we kiss?"  
  
"Because we're not in love."  
  
"What? Of course we are!"  
  
"Since when?"  
  
"Since over two years ago."  
  
"I don't remember ever saying that I love you."  
  
"Well you did, right after I finally managed to tell you that I love you. It was stupid really; I was far too late. It was when we said goodbye the last time I saw you."  
  
Sonic thought back. He was suddenly stricken by a memory of over two years ago, a couple of months before his sixteenth birthday.  
  
The sky was dark and there was growing thunder, the clouds rolled across the sky in the strong wind that whined through the long grass of the Green Hill Zone on South Island. Sonic sat with Sally upon a bench atop a smooth round hill amongst the turbulent sea of dark green. Below was a harbour where a passenger ship stood ready to depart, bobbing up and down in the dark grey waves. It gave a long low blast of its horn.  
  
"The ship's about to go," said Sally in a soft and sad voice. "It looks rough."  
  
"I wish this island had a real airport," said Sonic. "I'm not too good at sea."  
  
Sally leaned against Sonic. "I don't want you to go, Sonic," she said.  
  
"I don't want to go," the hedgehog answered. "But you're uncle doesn't get offered a position that pays you more in a month than some people earn in a decade every day now, does he? When it comes to money, Uncle Chuck thinks with his head, not his heart. But we'll stay in touch. You're my best friend, you know."  
  
"You're my best friend too," said Sally. "Forever?"  
  
"Forever," said Sonic.  
  
They put their arms around each other and for a long while they sat embraced like that. At length they parted but Sonic did not leave just yet. Sally sniffed.  
  
"Please don't cry," said Sonic softly, trying as hard as he could to fight back his own tears. But seeing his best friend here crying to see him go he could no longer stop himself and he too wept, a very rare occasion indeed.  
  
"Sonic," said Sally. "There's something I've been meaning to tell you…"  
  
"What is it?" said Sonic wiping the tears away with his handkerchief.  
  
"Sonic, I love you," she said slowly as if with great difficulty.  
  
"I love you too, Sally," Sonic replied. "Don't worry, I'll write to you as soon as I get there and I'll call you as much as I can. We'll stay in touch, I promise."  
  
The memory was over and Sonic looked at Sally.  
  
"Oh yeah," said Sonic. "I remember that!"  
  
"We lost touch, I suppose you forgot," said Sally sadly.  
  
"I never forgot," said Sonic. "And I didn't mean that love."  
  
"Then what did you mean?"  
  
"There's loads of different types of love. I loved you and I still do love you as a friend."  
  
"That's not what I meant," a smile grew on Sally's face, "and it's not really what you meant either."  
  
"Of course it is!"  
  
"Sonic! You haven't changed at all! Not in over two years! You're still the same hedgehog that I was best friend with for so long. You're still the same hedgehog I fell in love with. Do you honestly think you can look me in the eye and lie?"  
  
Sally then started laughing. Sonic was rather taken aback. He could quite remember that they had been such good friends but he had never seen their relationship as a big love relationship.  
  
"At any rate, Sonic," said Sally, "here's some food for thought."  
  
She got up and walked casually over to Sonic, sat down right next to him, put her arms around his neck and kissed him right on the lips. Sonic could not deny that it was great sensation, not even to Sally, for as she kissed him he felt his heart pounding and he knew that so close together, Sally must also feel it.  
  
"How was that?" she asked as she stopped and moved back with a huge smile on her face.  
  
"Cool," was all Sonic could say.  
  
Sally then hugged Sonic and left the room with one dazed hedgehog.  
  
Pegasus One flew in beneath the colony and passed the massive barrel of the inoperable Eclipse Cannon. Even so close to the ARK, within its atmospheric force field even, The colony's metallic underside was still far away. Despite the fact that it was covered in towers, some sticking out over ten thousand metres, and deep uneven ravines of machinery filled with networks of walkways and maintenance platforms like the Cosmic Wall, the surface still looked smooth, even this close. This soon changed as the shuttle flew up towards its destination. It was, as the passengers saw upon their approach, a massive tower, sticking out farther than those around it. It was also very wide with several open doors large enough for the shuttle to glide in and land. It was one of the colony's seven hangars, this particular one being called the Moon Hangar. The shuttle was tiny compared to it, yet from a distance this tower was hardly a speck upon the detailed underside of the ARK. The shuttle glided into the landing area and settled down upon its landing gear.  
  
The loading ramp slowly dropped down and stopped against the cold titanium floor. With a rush and cry, Nack raced forward, his black coat and shades cast aside. He toted his assault rifle, ready to fire at anything that moved but he was disappointed. He slung the huge gun round and onto his shoulder.  
  
"Guess 'em bots ain't man enough to stand up to the likes of Nack the Weasel," he laughed.  
  
"Either that or this area of the colony is the least active," said Charles. "And that's exactly why we're here. Let's get our plan sorted out."  
  
Charles brought the weasel back into the shuttle and into the computer room. In the centre of the room there was a holographic diagram of the ARK. Once everyone was in the room, he spoke.  
  
"I have used this diagram to come up with a plan," he said. He pointed to one an area on the diagram that flashed red. "This where we are; the Moon Sector. The ARK has seven sectors, the Moon Sector, the Star Sector, the Sun Sector, the Earth Sector, the Meteor Sector and the Comet Sector. And in the very centre of the colony is the Eclipse Sector, hence the name the "Eclipse Cannon" as it was built from that sector. The Eclipse Sector is the highest security area seeing as it's where the central control room and the main reactor are. Unfortunately for us, that's exactly where we're going to need to go."  
  
The others sighed. Charles booted up a closer diagram that showed only the Moon and Eclipse Sectors of the ARK. He pointed at a large object as near to the centre of the Moon Sector as no matter.  
  
"That," he said, "is one of the six power regulator terminals that supply each sector with power from the main reactor. If it was destroyed, all power in the Moon Sector except the emergency backup would be shut down. It just so happens that with the power offline the security doors from the Moon Sector into the Eclipse Sector automatically unlock. It's an emergency precaution designed to allow easier escape should there be a massive power failure during evacuation. My plan is to destroy the terminal and get inside the Eclipse Sector when the security doors unlock.  
  
"First of all then, Nack, you need to get to the terminal and destroy it. Being the munitions expert I'll leave it to you to judge how much explosives you'll need. You'll be able to get there by way of this elevator shaft." He pointed at a thin red line in the diagram leading close to the terminal. "You can't activate the elevator without alerting the central computer so that's where Sally comes in."  
  
"Yeah," said Sally stepping forward. "I'll hack into the central computer from the nearest computer outlet using the base codes supplied by GUN to prevent the central computer from detecting the elevator's movements. The base codes are codes that were installed when the colony was first built that operate below the existing codes and they can't be changed. It was a precaution made by the government in case they ever needed to forcibly take control of the ARK, which was done about fifty years ago I believe. This will allow us to secretly ascend to the level of the terminal."  
  
"As soon as the terminal's shut down," said Charles, "Robotnik will know but he won't be able to find out where we are."  
  
"No," said Sonic, "but he'll send out a few hundred badniks to find out for him."  
  
"Which is why you and Tails are going to make some noise," said Charles. "You need to keep the badniks distracted so that we can stay under cover. While you keep them busy, Sally and Rouge will follow this passage here." He pointed to a long green line that ran straight from near to the Moon Hangar to the Eclipse Sector. "That's a secret access corridor running straight to the edge of the Moon Sector. It can only be accessed with the base codes, which is exactly how GUN managed to take control of the ARK. Robotnik won't have any guards in there so while Sonic and Tails distract the badniks, you can get in through there. It won't take you all the way to the Eclipse Sector but the badniks will be following Sonic and Tails so you should be beyond them.  
  
"As for Amy and myself, we're going to find and rescue the Princess. She should be in or near the Eclipse Sector, which is why we'll take the same tunnel as Sally and Rouge. That's phase one. As for phase two, that involves destroying any copies of the EMP Cannon plans and getting out of here with the Princess and her necklace. Sally?"  
  
"I'll upload a virus into Robotnik's computer that will destroy all the information entered over the last forty-eight hours," said Sally holding up a disk. "That should be more than enough time."  
  
"That won't be any good!" said Sonic suddenly. "Eggman's no fool. He'll make a backup copy on disk and keep it with him. But no worries! I'll deal with that."  
  
"All right!" said Charles. "That's settled then. So we're all clear on what's to be done? Let's go! Ah! Wait a sec! Here you go." He handed everyone a small com-link. "Now these are designed to operate on a specific frequency which will hide any communications from Eggman's sensors. Once you've finished your bit, everyone, let us know."  
  
Sally, Rouge and Nack headed to the doors leading out of the Moon Hangar for the nearest computer outlet was in the landing control tower that was attached to the outside of the hangar.  
  
Sonic growled.  
  
"What's up?" asked his uncle.  
  
"I don't trust that weasel," said Sonic. "He's a mercenary and he's worked for Eggman before."  
  
"Well he's working for the government now," said Charles. "They don't accept people they don't trust."  
  
"I don't care," Sonic continued. "I just don't trust him. Believe me, if old Egghead offered him a better price, he'd soon take it."  
  
"That'd be an awful risk to himself though," said Charles. "The government doesn't like traitors."  
  
"Whatever," said Sonic. "What are we gonna do now?"  
  
"We're gonna stay put 'til the power's down," said Charles. "As soon as Nack destroys the terminal, Sonic, Tails, you'll need to run out and get the badniks' attention. Sally and Rouge will be well on their way through the secret tunnel by then. Amy and I will follow soon after and take the tunnel ourselves. Sally's leaving it unlocked for us. We'll sneak in and get Silky out through the passage and safely aboard the shuttle to go."  
  
"What can I do to help?" said a voice. A young squirrel stepped down off the loading ramp.  
  
"Eon?" cried Tails. "What are you doing here?"  
  
"Helping you," said Eon. "Silky's not just my girlfriend but she's also my family's responsibility and I'm going to help save her. So far we've failed to keep her safe. You can't understand how much I love her."  
  
"Does your father know you're here?" asked Charles.  
  
"What do you think?" Eon laughed grimly.  
  
"I don't want you to get hurt, you know."  
  
"I'm at no greater risk than you."  
  
"Very well. I see Silky means so much to you so I'll let you come and help. Just follow me and keep close and everything will be fine." 


	13. Chapter 13 Pop Goes The Weasel

1 Chapter 13 Pop Goes the Weasel  
  
The Secret Service agents ascended in the elevator. It was large compared to elevators on Earth, with seats around the edges save those where there were doors. Nack was uneasy. Or it seemed so for he was fidgeting with his assault rifle and shivering.  
  
"Are you all right?" asked Sally.  
  
"I'm fine," snapped the weasel.  
  
"If you can't pull off this mission you endanger the rest of us," said Sally sternly. "Now are you certain that you're okay?"  
  
"Yeah!" shouted Nack. "Now get off ma back! Or you'll get this gun somewhere ya don't wannit!"  
  
"This is an extremely important mission," Sally continued, "and if I think you're going to screw it up I won't let it go ahead."  
  
"I'm just a little nervous," Nack growled in a quavering voice. "Ain't you?"  
  
"Of course, but I'm not going to let that stand in my way." She handed Nack a security card. "You'll need this," she said. "This contains the base codes needed for the terminal."  
  
They reached the designated deck, deep inside the ARK, where there was access to the Moon Sector's power regulator terminal. They left the elevator and went their separate ways, Sally and Rouge to the secret tunnel and Nack to the terminal. He reached a large door, protected with strong blast shielding. No explosives that Nack bore could possibly break through it. He pushed the security card into the door control panel. There was a beep and a click from the panel and the doors slowly opened.  
  
Nack walked out onto a platform on the perimeter of a massive hall. In its centre was the massive column of the power regulator terminal, with many pipes and cables running in and out of it. There were bridges from the platform that ran across to the terminal all over the place. Nack wandered over wondering what explosives were best to use on this machine.  
  
"Crikey!" he thought. "If this thing's just one of the power terminals, I wonder 'ow big the main reactor is?"  
  
Nack decided to plant several megaton sub-atomic explosives around the terminal set on remote detonation. He left the terminal chamber and shut the door behind him.  
  
"Okay, everyone," he said into his com-link. "Bombs are planted. I'm gonna blow her… now!"  
  
He pushed the switch on the detonator remote and with a deafening boom the whole space colony shook and suddenly every light in the Moon Sector flickered and went out. For a fleeting moment the Moon Sector was dark and silent then the emergency lighting came on casting a pale white gleam over the floors of each room and corridor.  
  
"What the hell was that?" demanded Sora-Ya, getting up from where she had fallen in the explosion.  
  
"Intruders!" cried Eggman. "We've lost the Moon Sector's power terminal! Sabotage! I wondered when the Princess's rescuers would show up. But how did they manage to sneak aboard like that I wonder? Oh well, I'll show them a thing or two. I have the plans already! They'll target this computer I'd wager. But I have this copy!" He pocketed a disk onto which he had downloaded the plans and turned to leave the control room.  
  
"Where are you going?" asked the echidna.  
  
"Hunting!" said Eggman. He strode across the access bridge from the centre of the control room and leapt into the seat of his Eggmobile. He switched the power on and it rose onto its legs, the laser cannon charged ready to fire and Eggman marched out of the doors and headed for the Moon Sector.  
  
Sonic ran throughout the dimly lit corridors of the Moon Sector with Tails hot on his heels. They soon found badniks as they were searching for and managed to destroy several. There were many E-100 guards all over the place and they were soon joined with reinforcements. The plan was working, Sonic and Tails were distracting the badniks.  
  
At length they reached a large door. It lead to one of the ARK's turbo- train stations, but that was not where they wanted to go. The were about to make a left for the parallel passage but as they approached the door opened. Out came the Eggmobile with Eggman glaring at his enemies. Behind him was a horrific sight; hundreds and hundreds of badniks of all kinds.  
  
"Sonic!" cried the mad scientist. "You! You dare to stand in my way again!"  
  
He fired many bolts of green light at Sonic and Tails from his laser cannon as they turned left and ran as fast as their feet could carry them down the passage.  
  
"I really wish I'd brought the Cyclone," panted Tails.  
  
"At least the plan's working," answered Sonic.  
  
The Eggmobile was a lot faster than Sonic had thought but escaping it was not their plan, at least not until the Princess was rescued. Sonic realised that this was soon going to become suspicious to Eggman. What aims could Sonic and Tails possibly hope to achieve by simply running away from him?  
  
"Next turn, Tails, we split up," he said, "you go right, I'll go left!"  
  
"Okay!" said Tails.  
  
They reached a crossroad in the passages and split up there. Eggman naturally followed Sonic with half of his badnik escort while the rest of the badniks pursued Tails.  
  
"Be alert!" he ordered his machines. "That wretched fox-boy might well be up to something while I take care of the hedgehog."  
  
Sonic led Eggman up several levels by way of ascending passages and round many corners as if trying to shed him but never moving quite fast enough to do so. Suddenly a figure stepped out into the corridor as Sonic ran past, but he was travelling far too fast to notice. Eggman however noticed and skidded to a halt.  
  
"Badniks!" he shouted. "Pursue the hedgehog!"  
  
The robots obeyed without question while Eggman leapt out of his Eggmobile and drew his handgun. Pointing the gun, he approached.  
  
"Well," he said, "if it isn't my old friend, Nack the Weasel!"  
  
"All right, Doc?" said Nack.  
  
"You people finally decided to show up I see," said Eggman. "Good. Now if you remember our little agreement, this is the part where you tell me the plan."  
  
"Money first, info second," said the weasel. "That's the deal."  
  
"I'll pay you half now," said Eggman. "And half after I've stopped these pests. If I fail then I keep this half. Either way you get something. Fair?"  
  
"Fine," said Nack.  
  
Eggman took out a briefcase from his Eggmobile and handed it to Nack. The weasel opened it and began counting the money inside.  
  
"No need," said Eggman. "There's ten thousand dollars in that case, exactly half of what we agreed on."  
  
"There better be," growled the weasel. "I'd be one hell of a fool to trust you."  
  
"There is, I assure you," said Eggman. "Now talk, Weasel."  
  
And so Nack explained the entire plan to Eggman. 


	14. Chapter 14 Rescue Of The Rescuer

Chapter 14 Rescue of the Rescuer  
  
The passage was narrow, low-roofed and dark. The air was stale, old, for this network of secret passages within the ARK had no ventilation and the only air that it could get came from when the doors were opened, something which did not happen that often. For you see it was designed completely as a secret means of infiltrating the ARK, and there could be no way in other than the few designated access points, well hidden in service shafts. Charles led the way holding a torch, followed closely by Amy armed with her hammer and bringing up the rear was Eon.  
  
Sally and Rouge were moving swiftly ahead and had been since even before Nack had destroyed the terminal. It was exactly five thousand metres from the tunnel entrance to its end near to the Eclipse Sector for the tunnel ran completely straight without ever winding or bending. It took about an hour or maybe a little more to cover the distance and reach the final exit. They came out into the dark passages of the Moon Sector on the perimeter of the Eclipse Sector. By the pale emergency lighting they saw the huge door in the wide bulkhead of the ARK separating the two sectors. The screen next to the door was flashing read with the words "EMERGENCY ALERT! SECURITY DOORS OFFLINE."  
  
Sally and Rouge opened the door and entered the Eclipse Sector, its lights and systems were still fully functional after an hour or more of darkness it seemed dazzlingly bright. Once their eyes had adjusted to the light they headed on towards the central control room.  
  
Meanwhile Charles continued to lead Amy and Eon towards the end of the tunnel. They reached the end to find the light pouring through the open security doors. Charles took off his rucksack and opened it up. He took a small device out and switched it on.  
  
"What's that?" asked Eon.  
  
"A certain safety precaution Gigapolis made that proved useful after all," said Charles. "You see Silky has a tracking device inside her. It was injected beneath her skin before she was sent away as a cub so that if she ever went missing she could be found. And I've got a signal! That proves that she's still alive. The chip is programmed to switch off if her heart stops, but I didn't think Robotnik would kill good "ransom material". Let's go, and quickly!"  
  
To this Eon heartily agreed and so they followed the signal into the Eclipse Sector. They found themselves in a passage now that seemed to curve very slowly towards the right. They did not know it but they were in fact in a passage on part of the colony that circled around the base of the Eclipse Cannon. It was the top secret research facility where Professor Gerald Robotnik had first envisioned the concept of the ultimate life form and begun his work on Project Shadow. One of the abandoned labs was the very lab from which Maria had jettisoned Shadow from the ARK in an escape pod.  
  
"The signal's getting closer," said Charles watching the tiny screen on the device he held. The screen was flickering rapidly and the beeping sound it made was almost like a long continuous tone now. "Through this door," said Charles turning aside.  
  
He slid his base-code access card into the door control panel and the door slowly opened upwards. The three of them glanced into the room and suddenly Eon shot forward to a figure lying sprawled on the floor.  
  
"Silky!" he cried.  
  
The vixen was unconscious but she seemed relatively unharmed. Gently Eon shook her and called her. She opened her eyes and blinked.  
  
"Eon?" she said. "What are you doing here?"  
  
"Erm… rescuing you," said Eon. "Are you okay?"  
  
"I think so," she said sitting up. She rubbed the back of her head. "They must have knocked me out." She felt for her necklace. "They took it!" she said. "My necklace is gone."  
  
"They?" asked Charles.  
  
"Yeah," said Silky. "Eggman and that echidna."  
  
"Knuckles?" asked Amy.  
  
"No, it was a girl," said Silky. "She was going on about me being a Princess and something called an EMF Cannon. She said I had the plans to it. Is that true?"  
  
"EMP Cannon, Silky," said Charles. "And I'm afraid it is true. Don't worry, I dare say the President will explain it all later (he'll have to)."  
  
They left the lab and headed back for the secret tunnel. Charles activated his com-link.  
  
"We've got the Princess," he said, "and we're on our way back to the shuttle. Sally, how are you doing?"  
  
"We're outside the central control room," said Sally. "We're about to go in, Sonic, Tails, keep those badniks busy for us, we won't be long if we can help it."  
  
"Everyone," said Charles. "There's another problem. Robotnik's not alone this time. Silky tells us that he's accompanied by a female echidna and she's armed, so watch your backs."  
  
"Will do," said Rouge.  
  
Sally opened the door into the central control room. As she and Rouge wandered in they saw ahead the command console of the ARK's massive central computer in the reshaped hall. It was a mass of holographic screens and computer consoles surrounding the relocated space transporter. All surrounded by a pit of cables and pipes over which there was only one bridge. They stepped into the chamber a moved forward. Suddenly Sora-Ya appeared by the command console, drew her gun and fired several shots at the two agents. They ducked back out of the chamber.  
  
"It's that echidna girl," said Sally. "How do we get past her, I wonder?"  
  
"I've got it all figured out," said Rouge sticking a hand in her pocket.  
  
She took out a small capsule and pushed a button on the side. She cautiously threw it through to door onto the bridge. It's round shape allowed it to roll along the bridge towards Sora-Ya. The echidna lowered her gun unsure of what to expect when the capsule suddenly burst open giving off a cloud of white gas. Sora-Ya fell to the floor unconscious from the effects of the gas grenade and Sally and Rouge came to the controls.  
  
"Right," said Sally, "let's do this."  
  
She put a disk into the command console and began uploading the files onto the main hard drive.  
  
"How long will it take?" asked Rouge.  
  
"I can't say," said Sally. "The system's bound to have anti-virus barriers and they'll take time to override but rest assured the virus is unstoppable."  
  
Slowly the virus was uploaded onto the computer. At last it was done and the alert came up on the screen. It read "ALERT! FATAL ERROR DETECTED! ALL SYSTEMS INFECTED: PREVIOUS 48 HOURS INFORMATION DELETED."  
  
"That should do it," laughed Sally triumphantly. "Now where's the star necklace?"  
  
"Hey look out!" cried Rouge as Sora-Ya suddenly got up and ran to the exit; in her hand she firmly clasped the diamond necklace.  
  
"We have to get that necklace!" cried Sally. "Let's go!"  
  
"She forgot her gun," said Rouge picking up the pistol and handing it to Sally.  
  
Charles led Eon, Silky and Amy out of the Eclipse Sector and into the darkness of the Moon Sector. The passage entrance was ahead. Once inside they could safely return to the Moon Hangar without attracting badnik attention, unfortunately they never made it to the entrance. As they crossed the main passage a light appeared, the headlamp of the Eggmobile marching towards them piloted by the enraged Eggman.  
  
"Go back, back!" cried Charles.  
  
They turned and raced back into the Eclipse Sector as the Eggmobile swiftly gained on them. Eggman fired the laser cannon, the green bolts of light exploding off the walls sending sparks in all directions. They were running through the research facility as fast as their feet could carry them but they weren't as fast as Sonic and Tails and they could not keep this up.  
  
As they ran past an open door, Amy glanced in and then called to the others.  
  
"In here!" she cried.  
  
They dashed in and shut the door. Charles quickly locked it with the base-code card and then looked about him. They were in what appeared to be a small hangar. There was an odd looking craft like a small space shuttle with only two rocket engines and a much larger cockpit window. At the far end of the room was a long tunnel leading out into the space around the Eclipse Cannon, within the confines of the ARK's atmospheric field.  
  
"Look!" cried Amy. "We can use this ship to fly around to the Moon Hangar! There's no outer doors on the hangar are there?"  
  
"Well there are but they're open," said Charles.  
  
"But what if this thing doesn't have any fuel?" asked Eon.  
  
"Then we refuel it," said Charles pointing to the nearby fuel pump.  
  
To their fortune however, the ship was fuelled and ready for launch. They climbed inside and found that it was some kind of short-range personnel transport craft for inside it there were two rows of seats behind the two pilot seats. With Charles at the controls they blasted out of the hangar and along the tunnel.  
  
The door burst to pieces in a blaze of green light and Eggman marched in only to see that his victims had escaped and his captive with them. He growled with rage.  
  
"They won't get far," he snarled, "I'll make sure of that!"  
  
This shuttle was quite fast, faster than they had expected and it soon bore them swiftly across the Moon Sector towards the hangar. But to their dismay, less than halfway there, Silky saw a craft fast approaching. It was a strange looking craft that twisted and turned like a serpent as it manoeuvred from side to side. It was made of red and grey metal and its huge head bore a large laser cannon and two huge rotating wheels of spikes on either side. It was the Egg Viper, a machine that Sonic had fought the previous year in Eggman's Mystic Ruins base, the Final Egg.  
  
"Hang on!" cried Charles, as the Egg Viper flew past, its laser cannon ablaze with green light.  
  
The shuttle veered off out of the path of the weapons fire. As the Egg Viper came around for another blast the shuttle turned straight up and lunged into the vast network of towers and ravines in the ARK's underside. The Egg Viper followed faster than they had hoped. Even in this complicated maze, escape seemed impossible. They were assailed by wave after wave of laser fire that barely missed them. At last they saw the entrance to the Moon Hangar and it looked like they could carry on for just another minute like this, enough to escape the menacing machine but they were wrong. As they accelerated towards the open hangar doors they were struck hard by a bolt of energy from the Egg Viper's forward cannon.  
  
In a trail of smoke and fire the shuttle spun off course towards one of the nearby towers. It collided with one of the large windows, shattering it to pieces and scraping along the floor inside it stopped hard against what had looked like an old fountain. It was surrounded by benches at the foot of a pair of escalators, for this chamber was part of one of the ARK's huge commerce centres most of which were here in the Moon Sector.  
  
Charles forced the cockpit canopy open and clambered out of the shuttle. He turned and gave the others a hand to climb out. Even as Eon climbed down onto the floor, last to get out, the Egg Viper came in through the shattered window and converted to it its electron cannon form. Eggman was clear to see, sitting in the machine's cockpit as he targeted the shuttle. The open section of the outer shell, divided up into three points around the cockpit glowed with bright blue light and a huge ball of energy appeared between them. With a roar it shot forwards straight into the shuttle and the whole chamber flashed with light.  
  
Charles, Eon, Silky and Amy had only just escaped the chamber when the Egg Viper had fired. The blast had destroyed not only the shuttle but ruptured the whole hall. It collapsed as the shockwaves ran through it, falling away from the colony in huge charred pieces. Not even the passage that the four dashed along now was safe and it too began to collapse.  
  
As they ran, Eon tripped on his own feet and fell flat on the floor. To his fortune though the passage stopped collapsing just short of where he had fallen. He got up ready to catch up but as he moved the floor panels he stood on broke and fell apart and with a cry, Eon fell. He instinctively grabbed hold of a severed cable that hung from under the floor of the passage. It was a strong cable but he could feel that it was slipping under his weight.  
  
"Eon!" cried Silky, running to the edge. She gave a sigh of relief to see that he had not fallen away from the ARK but her heart still pounded with the fear that he should lose his grip on the cable. "Hang on!" she called.  
  
She grabbed the cable and with all her strength hoisted her lover back up into the safety of the passage. There they held each other for a second and kissed.  
  
"Oh, Silky," said Eon. "What would I ever do without you?"  
  
"If it wasn't for me," said Silky, "you wouldn't be here on this little expedition in the first place."  
  
"True," laughed Eon. "I love you, Silky."  
  
"I love you," she replied.  
  
"Okay, you two," interrupted Charles. "I'm not too happy about this passage at all, so let's get out of here before more of it falls apart. We're not far from the hangar. Hopefully Robotnik will think that explosion finished us." 


	15. Chapter 15 The Great Escape

1 Chapter 15 The Great Escape  
  
While Charles, Eon, Silky and Amy had been escaping Eggman, Sora-Ya had been making an escape from Sally and Rouge. She was heading down a long passage in the Eclipse Sector but eventually she stopped and looked round. There was no sign of her pursuers. She stopped panting against the wall of a passage and slumped to the floor. The light flickered suddenly and as she looked up she felt a hard blow to her face.  
  
"That's one nasty kick you've got," Sally complimented Rouge.  
  
"Thanks," said the bat.  
  
"Now listen up!" said Sally, pointing the gun at Sora-Ya. "I don't know who you are and I don't care. All I want is that necklace, so hand it over – now!"  
  
"Whatever you say," said Sora-Ya, rubbing her bruised face. She handed the necklace over slowly. "Now let me go."  
  
"Fat chance," said Rouge, taking out a pair of handcuffs. "I think you'd better come with us. GUN will want a few words with you."  
  
Sora-Ya got up. Even as she did, Sally saw the flash of a blade being drawn from its hidden sheaf in the echidna's boot and pushed Rouge aside as Sora-Ya lunged forward with her dagger. The blade tore through Sally's coat and just scratched the fur on her arm but no blood was drawn. She turned and fired the gun at Sora-Ya as she turned and bolted down the corridor and out of sight.  
  
"Bah!" said Rouge. "Let her go. The coward's not worth the effort. We've got what we came for so let's get out of this place."  
  
They headed back to the secret passage through the Moon Sector and swiftly headed back to Pegasus One.  
  
Sonic was in a tight spot. There were many badniks pursuing him and many more attacked from all sides. He had come now to a dead end and he could only escape by fighting his way through the badniks that assailed him.  
  
"We're done," he heard his uncle saying on the com-link. "The Princess is safe aboard Pegasus One and we're ready to go here."  
  
"We're on our way," said Sally. "We'll be there very soon. Another ten minutes I should think, we're more than halfway through this tunnel."  
  
"I'll head back," said Tails. "There's a lot less badniks after me now, I can't say why."  
  
"Ha!" laughed Sonic. "That's 'cause they're all after me! Nothing I can't handle though. I'm on my way!"  
  
He spun into a ball and smashed his way through several Buzzbombers and a pair of Monkey-bots. The army of badniks turned to follow him as he ran down the dark corridor at almost full speed. As he ran across a hall with a glass floor, through which he could clearly see the Earth far below, he was aware that there was less commotion behind him. He turned and saw that the badniks were turning around and leaving him.  
  
"What's going on," he wondered out loud.  
  
The light from the Earth was suddenly cut off by a shadow. Sonic looked down only just in time to leap out of the way as the Egg Viper smashed up through the glass floor. It fired a powerful laser bolt that erupted into as huge explosion as it hit the wall near to the hedgehog. Sonic turned tail and ran down the next passage. As much as he'd love to fight the Egg Viper again he had no time. They had to escape from the ARK before Eggman figured out what was going on. Little did Sonic realise that Eggman knew the whole plan anyway.  
  
Sally and Rouge came out of the tunnel at last and back into the main corridors of the Moon Sector. They found the elevator and got inside. Of course without the power online the elevator couldn't possibly work so they climbed out through the emergency escape hatch underneath. This led onto a ladder that descended deep down the shaft to the very bottom. But there was no time for that. Instead Rouge spread her wings and flew Sally down to the level of the Moon Hangar.  
  
As they approached the entrance a figure stepped out of a side passage holding a huge assault rifle. He pointed it towards them.  
  
"Nack?" said Rouge. "What the hell are you doing?"  
  
"Workin' for the higher bidder," said the weasel, "that's what I do." He switched on a radio he was carrying. "Doc," he said, "I've got the girls."  
  
"Excellent work, Nack," said the voice of Eggman. "Retrieve the necklace and bring it to me."  
  
"Yes, sir," he said. He turned to Sally and Rouge. "Now 'and over that necklace an' I'll think abou' lettin' ya go," he ordered.  
  
"Fine," said Sally.  
  
Slowly she put her hand in one of her coat pockets and slowly drew it back out. Suddenly Nack turned in shock as Rouge sneezed sharply. Even as she did so, Sally quickly drew out the gun; the one Sora-Ya had dropped, and fired. Blood scattered on the floor as Nack fell, letting his assault rifle clatter to the ground and clutching his shoulder in pain. Sally and Rouge stepped past the weasel and ran for the Moon Hangar. Nack drew his magnum and fired twice but both shots were poorly aimed in his pain and struck the walls on either side of the corridor.  
  
Tails looked around as he ran. True many more badniks had followed Sonic than him but there was still a considerable number in his pursuit. He heard Charles report back over the com-link that the mission was done now and he and Sonic had only to get to the Moon Hangar now for them to get away. He knew Sonic would be there pretty sharp, and it was all too likely that he would be the last to the shuttle.  
  
At length, he was running down a long corridor with windows on his right and a wall upon his left with doors he and there. Outside, standing massive compared to where was he could see the Moon Hangar's tower. Quick as thinking he grabbed a fire extinguisher from the wall and slammed it as hard as he could into one of the windowpanes. As it shattered to pieces he leapt out with his tails spinning like rotor blades propelling him through the emptiness outside, filled only with an Earth-like atmosphere held by the huge force field that surrounded the ARK's original spherical shape. The badniks that pursued him leapt out to follow him but those that could not fly fell towards the Earth, to be burned up upon re-entry.  
  
With only a few Buzzbombers and one or two E-100 guards after him, Tails was able to escape to the Moon Hangar pretty easily. Just when he thought his tails could carry him no further; he saw the outer entrance and flew in. As he fell panting to the floor, Eon came and helped him get up on his feet.  
  
"Hey!" Tails shouted. "Watch out for those badniks!"  
  
Eon turned and saw the group of Buzzbombers and E-100s flying towards the shuttle.  
  
"Get down!" shouted Sally.  
  
She came down the loading ramp with a sub-machine gun and shot several waves of bullets at the robots as they opened fire. Rouge drew her uzis and emptied their clips upon the badniks. The remnants of Eggman's robots scattered the floor of the hangar as Eon and Tails reached the loading ramp.  
  
"Right," said Tails. "Now let's get out of here."  
  
"We can't," said Charles. "Sonic's not here yet."  
  
"What? Where is he?"  
  
"Here he comes!" Amy squealed looking down the long passage that ran straight out of the Moon Hangar.  
  
Everyone looked and they saw running at an unimaginable speed, Sonic, a blaze of fire in his wake, as the Egg Viper pursued, blasting its laser cannon in a wide spread of firepower.  
  
"That thing!" cried Tails. "We can't let it get near the shuttle!"  
  
"You're right!" said Sally.  
  
She leapt up into the cargo bay and quickly came back holding a rocket launcher in one hand and a rocket in the other. She pushed the rocket into the launcher and slung it onto her shoulder. With the laser switched on she aimed with the Egg Viper right in the cross hairs and fired. The rocket shot forth straight down the passage. Straight over Sonic's head it went and right into the nose cone of the Egg Viper. The explosion blasted Eggman's craft right off course, slamming hard into the wall, its spiked wheels flying off and the tail's serrated edge cutting huge scores in the floor and ceiling. The charred and battered craft skidded to a halt against the wall in ruin.  
  
Sonic ran into the Moon Hangar and got aboard the shuttle. The engines were on ready to go and the cargo ramp was drawn up and the lower door shut as soon as the hedgehog was inside. Charles turned the shuttle around and blasted off out of the hangar, the mission was accomplished.  
  
As they left, the Egg Viper's cockpit slid open and Eggman forced his way out. His moustache was burnt on one side; one his glasses' lenses cracked and his clothes were ripped in many places. He gave a growl at the sight of Pegasus One leaving with his arch nemesis safely aboard. He stuck his hand in his pocket and took out a disk, cracked down the middle and completely useless.  
  
"I hate that hedgehog," he scowled.  
  
"I wouldn't worry about him, Doctor," said a voice.  
  
Sora-Ya appeared from a side passage and walked towards him. She held up a disk of her own and Eggman saw that it was completely unharmed.  
  
"I'm no fool," she said with a wicked smile.  
  
Eggman took the disk in his hand and laughed. 


	16. Chapter 16 The Hidden Memories

Chapter 16 The Hidden Memories  
  
Night fell and still the Master Emerald gave off its brilliant radiance. Knuckles had searched the whole island for signs or clues as to what the problem was. He sat in front of the Master Emerald and gazed at it, his face leaning upon his hands. As he sat in deep thought there was a flash of light from the Mushroom Hill woods nearby. It was a flash of golden light that Knuckles knew very well.  
  
"A Power Ring!" he cried and leapt off into the night.  
  
He raced through the trees over the bare ground carpeted in browned pine needles from the tall evergreens. He came onto the edge of a clearing where there was only grass and he saw a figure. It was a girl, an echidna girl, hardly older or younger than himself. She wore a green shirt and her fur was red, a similar red to his own. Her eyes however were deep violet. As Knuckles stepped into the clearing, his first thoughts were not to attack this stranger and drive her from the island, even though all strangers he had previously considered as threats to himself or the Master Emerald. But something about this girl made a civil approach come naturally.  
  
"Hello," he said. "I'm Knuckles. And you are?"  
  
"Sora-Ya," said she. "It's been a long while I guess, but the time is coming as the prophecies foretold. I have come to begin the task long spoken of since the end of the Great Age."  
  
"What are you talking about?" demanded Knuckles. "I don't know who you are!"  
  
"I'm Sora-Ya," she said. "You must remember me, Nakkuruzu. We are betrothed!"  
  
At this Knuckles felt completely at a loss.  
  
"My name is Knuckles, not Nakkuruzu," said Knuckles. "And I've never even heard your name before."  
  
"You're not lying either," said Sora-Ya sadly. "Well as far as you know, which is why my senses show that what you say is the truth. What's your earliest memory?"  
  
Knuckles thought back. His earliest memory was unclear, but he was sure that he had to be about twelve years old.  
  
"I must have been around eleven to twelve years old," he said. "It was warm outside and there was bright sunshine. It was spring I think. I remember waking up and going to the altar, where the Master Emerald is. I knew what it was and what I had to do. I knew that I was the guardian of the Master Emerald and the floating isle that it powered; Angel Island. But I've never known why. Are you saying that you know?"  
  
"I sense that you hold the answers yourself, Nakkuruzu," said the girl slowly. "But I fear you cannot reach them. You must have somehow contracted amnesia when you were young. If that is the case I can bring your memories back. By doing so there will be no need for tale-telling."  
  
"What do you mean?" asked Knuckles. He was getting more was getting more confused by the minute. But even as his confusion grew so too did his interest.  
  
"Your confusion, your questions," said Sora-Ya. "I can answer them all without even speaking. I can use my mind to help you uncover your hidden memories. If I do that then you'll recall everything, your whole past, and all the questions you've ever wanted to ask can finally be answered. Do you wish for me to help you? For I cannot do it if you do not want me to."  
  
"How?" asked Knuckles.  
  
"I have psychic powers," she said. "And more importantly, I have a special unbreakable link to you, Nakkuruzu, for we are, as I have said, betrothed."  
  
Knuckles stood now on this fine summer's evening, under the eaves of the Mushroom Hill woods, with the opportunity to learn everything about his past. There was something about this girl that told Knuckles that she spoke truthfully, but what? Was it true that they had a psychic link? It was possible. Knuckles felt something that he had never felt before and he could find no explanation for it. But then he remembered Tikal's words. He would be presented with a choice, a choice that could change the whole world. But how could this choice change the world? True it was a very important choice for Knuckles to make but why should it effect an entire planet? Knuckles had always wanted to know about his past, his parents and why he had been left on Angel Island to follow the exceedingly difficult task of protecting the Master Emerald. Real opportunities of this kind did not show up that often and if he said no, what were the chances of Sora-Ya ever returning?  
  
"If you don't do this," Knuckles thought to himself, "you'll regret it for the rest of your life."  
  
But what did she mean by prophecies and this Great Age? Supposedly by doing whatever Sora-Ya wanted to do with him he would find out. He turned to Sora-Ya.  
  
"If I do this," he said, "I'm not bound to some sacred contract or anything am I?"  
  
"You are bound only by the choices you make," said Sora-Ya. "Even then you may be boundless for some choices can be changed."  
  
"I'll do it then," said Knuckles.  
  
"I knew you would," said the girl. "Come here."  
  
Knuckles stood in front of Sora-Ya and she put her hands upon his head.  
  
"Now concentrate on me," she said. "There is nothing else. I am all that is."  
  
Knuckles concentrated entirely on Sora-Ya and as he did so he felt a surge of strange energy beginning to flow between them.  
  
"Nakkuruzu," she said, or rather she didn't say for her mouth was still yet words Knuckles heard for Sora-Ya was speaking to him telepathically. "Nakkuruzu, I give to thee my strength of mind to restore thy memories. So take what I give to thee and thou shalt find the answers to all thy questions."  
  
Suddenly and beyond doubt Knuckles knew the answers to every question he had ever wished to ask of himself and his family and far, far more. He knew that his real name was indeed Nakkuruzu. He knew now exactly why Sora- Ya was here, who she was and exactly what she intended to do. Now Knuckles knew that the fate of planet Earth did indeed rest upon a choice that he alone could make.  
  
"Now I understand," he said having absorbed the years of hidden memories in mere seconds. "I know what you want."  
  
"Yes," said Sora-Ya. "Next year, upon the five thousandth anniversary of the Final Onslaught, it begins. The Empire shall rise again and our foes shall fall before us. The world shall be restored to its rightful rulers."  
  
"No," said Knuckles suddenly.  
  
"What?" demanded Sora-Ya.  
  
"I can't allow that to happen," said Knuckles. "Over the last few years I've learned to fight for freedom and to stop the Master Emerald's power from being used by those who would exploit it. I will not fall to that level. I won't help you bring back an age of tyranny and oppression whether it's an ancient prophecy or not. So you can forget about our "long- arranged" marriage 'cause it's not gonna happen. I won't become a tyrant."  
  
"You won't take back that which is rightfully ours?"  
  
"I won't become a tyrant," Knuckles repeated.  
  
"The plan is set in motion, Nakkuruzu. It will go ahead, with or without your help, that I guarantee."  
  
"Then it will go ahead without my help. Leave my island and do not return."  
  
"Very well. Goodbye, Nakkuruzu. I'll leave you to your worthless friends. When the time comes I hope you will reconsider for I don't wish for you to die with them, but the choice is and always will be yours to make. Goodbye."  
  
Sora-Ya opened up the Power Ring and disappeared from Angel Island but that was not the last Knuckles saw of her. And as Sora-Ya departed from Angel Island, the Master Emerald ceased to give off it's dazzling light. 


End file.
